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A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES, CARLISLE, PA. 

By rev. JOSEPH A: MURRAY, D.D. 



An Historical Address 

at the 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL 

of the 

Second Presibyterian Church 

Carlisle, Pennsylvania 

January 12, 1883 

AS PLANNED FOR PUBLICATION BY HIS DAUGHTER 

MRS. MARY E. HIMES 

With the appendices containing copies of Early 
Documents, not previously published, 

RELATING TO THE StONE MEETING 

House on the Square 



THE CORNMAN press 

CARLISLE, PA. 

1905 



/5 



~a 



C o,Ms 



IN LOVING MEMORY OF HER WHOSE 

AFFECTIONATE REGARD FOR HER FATHER 

AND INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT 

PROMPTED THE PUBLICATION OF THIS 

FRAGMENT OF LOCAL HISTORY. 



y^jsL3 



u 



PREFATORY NOTE 

AMONG the manuscripts left by the late Rev. Joseph A. 
Murray, D. D., was that of the Historical Address deliv- 
ered by him at the Semi-Centennial of the Second Presbyterian 
Church in Carlisle, Pa., January 12th, 1883. It had been pre- 
pared by him with his usual characteristic care as to accuracy 
and fullness of statement, and with a view to ultimate publica- 
tion, with copious Appendices, embracing, together with other in- 
formation, transcripts from old documents in his collection, re- 
ferred to in the address. Many of these, which had not previ- 
ously been published, had an interesting connection with the early 
history of the Presbyterian Churches of Carlisle, including the 
Old Stone Meeting House on the Square, and were regarded by 
him as decisive of some earnestly controverted points in its his- 
tory. The peculiar interest manifested by him in that church 
may be explained by a statement by him in another connection: 
"Baptized, reared, and having publicly made my youthful pro- 
fession of faith in Christ in the First Church, under the ministry 
of the beloved, but now sainted Duffield, wnth my earliest and 
most precious memories associated with that Church, to which I 
still feel loyally attached, &c.". At the time of the separation, 
and organization of the Second Church, he was a resident of 
Pittsburg and a member of Dr. Herron's church there. 

In the presentation of his address he was accorded a place on 
Friday afternoon, and the morning and evening of the following 
Sabbath. His feeble health, shortly afterward, delayed and fi- 
nally prevented its publication. His daughter, Mrs. Mary E. 
Himes, into whose hands the manuscript and accompanying docu- 
ments came, knowing the wishes of her father, had long felt that 
it ought to be put into more permanent fdrm, and the valuable 
historical data it contained be made more accessible to any inter- 
ested in the history of one of the oldest and most prominent 

(iii) 



iv Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

Presbyterian communities; and that the documents themselves 
should be deposited in some suitable, permanent place for safe 
keeping. The manuscript was left by the author just as it had 
been prepared for public delivery, much of it in the form of notes, 
and she had gone over it, indicating in a general way what modi- 
fications or omissions might be made; and had the final prepara- 
tion for the printer been in her hands she would doubtless have 
exercised, to a greater degree than has seemed allowable to an- 
other, the privilege that belonged to him of making any modifi- 
cations of style and statement of the spoken address in giving it 
permanent published form. In regard to the documents, which 
had always been freely accessible, since they had come into his 
possession, to any desiring fuller information, recognizing a 
community of interest, of the membership of both congregations 
in Carlisle, in the associations connected with those that antedate 
the division in 1833, she proposed, in accordance with what she 
had reason to believe was the wish of her father, to place them in 
the safe keeping of the Presbyterian Historical Society of Phil- 
adelphia, in the fire-proof vault provided for such deposits, where 
they would be secure, and accessible, as well, to any specially in- 
terested in them. These have, accordingly, been carefully 
mounted and arranged for preservation and reference, and placed 
as a permanent deposit with that Society. It was her purpose, 
also, to have a complete set of reduced photographic facsimiles 
made, direct from the negatives, of all the more important doc- 
uments, as a memorandum, in many respects almost equal for 
reference to the originals in authenticity. This part of her plan 
has also been carried out, and duplicates of these photographic 
facsimiles, from thirty negatives, have been bound in with copies 
of the address, and placed in the Hamilton Library, Carlisle, Pa., 
and in the library of the Presbyterian Historical Society of Phila- 
delphia. 

Carlisle, June, 1905. Charles F. Himes. 



CONTENTS 

Biographical Sketch ...... viii 

ADDRESS 
Prefatory Statement ...... 3 

I. Early History— Introductory .... 5 
Early Settlers —Meeting House Springs — Rev. Samuel Thomson — 

Meeting Houses in Carlisle — Rev. John Steel — Rev. Geo. Duffield 
—Old Lights and NewLights— Union 1786— Dr. Davidson— Terms 
of Union— Armstrong letter and Old Stone Meeting House 

II. The Second Church Organized .... 14 
Petition to Presbytery — Meeting for Organization — Resolutions — 

Committees — Published Account 

III. Clerical Committee of Organization ... 17 
Rev. James Williamson — Rev. A. B. Quay 

IV. Original Ruling Elders . . - . . 19 
Andrew Blair — John McClure — Robert Clark 

V. First four Deacons ...... 25 

Peter B. Smith — Robert Irvine — Robert Giffin — John Proctor 

VI. Others Mentioned in the Organization . . 28 
George A. Lyon — Charles Bingham Penrose — John Stuart — James 

Hamilton — Alexander C. Gregg — Crawford Foster — Abraham Lam- 
berton — John Hays — William Irvine — John Agnew — John William- 
son — Andrew Holmes —John Paxton — George Metzger — Gilbert 
Searight — James Thomson — Benj. Fernald — John Huston — Robert 
Young— William B. Murray 

APPENDIX 

A. Terms of Union ...... 38 

Proposed by Committee of Duffield Church — Proposed by Commit- 
tee of Steel Church (Davidson's) — Terms agreed to, May 5, 1786 

(V) 



vi Contents 

B. Occupants OF THE Gallery, (Stone Church) . , 41 
"List of Persons who have taken Pews in Ye Gallery, June 13, 1786," 

from old document — Memorandums on same, account for stoves, &c 
— Amount subscribed for erecting gallery — The Gallery— Pews on 
lower floor 

C. Armstrong Letter ...... 42 

Conclusion of and references -Stone Church not commenced before 

1769 — Extracts from letters of J. A. Murray, published July 16, 1S84 
— Corrections — Steel's Meeting House — Duffield's Meeting House — 
First Contract for Stone Meeting House, 1769 — Second 177/ — By 
Steel's Congregation — Duffield, New Side, never connected with 
Stone Meeting House — Armstrong letter origin of mistaken date, 
1757, of founding Stone Meeting House— Armstrong belonged to 
Duffield's Church — Letter does not refer to Steel's Church — Plan 
of Carlisle 1764 — First Contract for Stone Meeting House, 1769 — 
Memorial Address referred to — Corrections published by Dr. Wing 
to History of First Church — "Steel's Church on Hanover Street, 
1759 — Foundation of Stone Church 1769 — Date 1757, error caused 
by Armstrong letter — Stone Meeting House not referred to — Old 
Map and old subscription incline to belief Episcopal Church meant 
— Contracts 1769, 1771, decisive of date" 

D. Contracts — Stone Meeting House .... 50 
First (McGlathry) Contract, 1769 — Adam Hoops' House — Folk 

Contract for finishing" 1771 

E. The Old Church Slowly Completed ... 53 
Building incomplete, May, 1786 — Proposal to Duffield's people to 

finish it — To have right to seats on Gallery and vacant ones on lower 
floor — Subscription of advancements for finishing, May, 1787 — Sub- 
scription by ladies for finishing pulpit — Early opposition to stoves — 
Subscription for stoves, 1790 — Description of stoves and pipes — No 
chimneys until 1828 — Church struck by shell in 1863 — Subscription 
for "Chandeliere," 1794 — Description of Chandelier — Subscription 
of ladies, ior "Ornaments of the Pulpit," 1794 

F. Petition to Presbytery— for Separate Church . 60 
Petition — ^'^ames of subscribers (77) — Action of Presbytery — Mem- 
bership of new church 

F.F. Brief Biographical Data of first Members . . 79 



Contents vii 

G. Charter ....... 62 

Reference 

H. First Church Building— Second Church . . 63 

Meeting of Committee of Fifteen — Locations considered — Commit- 
tee to purchase lot — Action of Congregation— Building Committee 
Report of purchase of Oliver lot — Trust fund appropriated — Origin 
of trust fund from sale of Glebe farm, Meeting House Springs — 
Action of the First Church conveying proceeds of sale to Second 
Church — Acceptance by Second Church as its share of the property 
— Oliver lot, title — Trautwine, architect — Contract and details of plan 
— Architect's services recognized — Statement of amounts received 
and expended — Contributions outside of the membership — List of 
subscribers — Bell — Service in County Hall — Congregational meet- 
ins in College Chapel — Rev. Daniel McKinley elected pastor — In- 
stalled in the County Hall — First Communion observed in Lutheran 
Church — Worship in lecture room of new church — Communion in 
Church — First members received — Choice of pews determined by 
seniority in age — First alteration 1850 — Second 1864 — Last service 
in building June 19, 1870 — Disposition of bell and pews. 

J. Deed TO Steel's Meeting-House Lot, No. 177 . . 73 

K. Agreement FOR Sale OF DuFFiELD Lot, No. 122 . 75 

L. Consideration of sale of the Glebe, etc. . . 77 

Synopsis of act of incorporation — Appointment of a Committee — 
Proposition to sell the Glebe — Resolution to appoint some one to 
collect the stipends 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

"^ Joseph A. Murray ..... Frontispiece 

J Second Presbyterian Church. 

Built, 1833; Rebuilt 187 i • . . Facing Page 66 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

The author of this address and its appendices — Rev. Joseph 
Alexander Murray, D.D., a well known citizen of Carlisle, was a 
native of the borough, born Oct. 2nd, 1815. His father, George 
Murray, was born, March 17th, 1762, at Fort Pitt, and was the 
first white child born within the limits of Pittsburg. He was the 
only child of William Murray, a native of Scotland, a surveyor 
and land dealer, and Susanna Sly, daughter of George Sly, who 
came with his family from Holland, and resided on his farm two 
or three miles from the fort. George was left an orphan at an 
early age, but was tenderly cared for by his maternal grand- 
parents. When a lad of twelve years he made the trip to Car- 
lisle, assisting in bringing cattle to that market, and was so well 
pleased with the town that he remained. As an orphan he was 
placed in the care of James Pollock, Thomas Alexander, and 
George Stevenson, b}^ whom he was apprenticed to Simon Boyd, 
who had been a lieutenant in the Revolution, to learn the "trade 
science and occupation of blacksmith." He acquired great skill 
as an artisan, and became the partner, and ultimately the suc- 
cessor of Lieut. Boyd in an extensive business, as also his brother- 
in-law, by marriage with Mary Denny, by Dr. Davidson, in 1804. 
She was a younger sister of Maj. Ebenezer Denny, an officer in 
the army during the Revolution and subsequently, and, after re- 
tirement from the army, a very prominent citizen of Pittsburg. 
She was said to be a woman of marked character for intelligence 
and piety. Her father, William Denny, was born in Chester 
Count}', Pa., 1737, and came with his father, William Denny, to 
Cumberland County in 1745. The latter settled on a large tract 
of land in South Middleton township, which, according to the 
custom of the day, was left to the older son, Walter, who com- 
manded a company, and was killed at the battle of Crooked Bil- 

(viii) 



BlOGKAPHICAL SKETCH ix 

let. Provision was made by the father, in his will, for the 
schooling of the younger son, William, and for his instruction in 
a trade. He became quite a skilled cabinet-maker and carpenter, 
and was the contractor for the Court House in Carlisle, built in 
1765, and burned down in 1845. He was also Coroner of the 
County for a term. In 1760 he married Agnes Parker, daughter 
of John Parker, son of Richard Parker, who came with his wife 
Janet, from Ireland in 1725. 

George Murray, prospered in his businesss, acquired a com- 
fortable estate, and was a highly respected citizen for his many 
sterling qualities. He died in Carlisle May 6th, 1855, in his 
ninety-fourth year. As an evidence of his skill as a workman, a 
gentleman who had known him well said, that he had ridden 
thirty miles just to have him shoe a horse; and another old farmer 
stated, that he used to stop at the old shop just to .see George 
Murray work, he did it with so much ease and skill. Both he 
and his wife were members of the first church, and were among 
those who separated to form the second church, (see p. 80). 

The son, Joseph Alexander, was the youngest of five children. 
As his parents were both consistent members of the Presbyterian 
church in Carlisle, his "training," as he has said, " was of a cor- 
responding character — the old fashioned type." On May 15th, 
1831, on examination and profession of faith he was admitted to 
full membership in the church of his parents, then, as he states, 
"under the pastoral care of that excellent and useful man. Rev. 
George Duffield, afterward Dr. Duffield of Detroit." Among 
the eighty persons received into the church at the same time, 
five boys became ministers of the gospel, namely: Rev. Dr. 
T. W. Chambers, New York, Rev. Richard Craighead, 
Meadville, Pa., Rev. Dr. Geo. Duffield, Ann Arbor, Mich., Rev. 
Jno. O. Proctor, Lexington, Ohio, and the subject of this sketch. 
He received his academical education in Carlisle and Pittsburg, 
Pa. In Carlisle he attended the Carlisle Institute, conducted by 
Henry Duffield, a brother of Rev. George Duffield, pastor of the 
Presbyterian church in Carlisle. The classical department of the 
school was under the care of Mr. John A, Inglis, a graduate of 



X Biographical Sketch 

Dickinson College, who afterward became a very prominent poli- 
tician in South Carolina, and was the author of the secession 
ordinance of that state. He removed to Baltimore after the war, 
and was a judge in that city at the time of his decease. Young 
Murray returned from Pittsburg, and entered Dickinson College, 
then presided over by Dr. Durbin, but, in response to the urgent 
wish of his friends in Pittsburg, he returned to that city, entered 
the University of Western Pennsylvania, and was graduated from it 
1837. In the fall of the same year he entered the Western The- 
ological Seminary in Allegheny, from which he was graduated in 
1840. During this formative period of his life he was a mem- 
ber of the family of his cousin Hon. Harmar Denny, a prominent 
lawyer. Mayor of Pittsburg, and, as a member of congress for 
many years, influential in national politics. His life and associa- 
tions here, which brought him in contact with many of the lead- 
ing men of the day, especially of the old Whig school, imparted 
breadth to his character and information, and had doubtless much 
to do with the courteousness of manner, and dignity of bearing 
which characterized him. It also originated many close friend- 
ships that survived into the later period of a long life. He was 
a member, in Pittsburg, of Dr. Herron's church, familiarly known 
as 'Father Herron's.' In 1839 he was taken under the care of the 
Ohio Presbytery, which then embraced the churches in and around 
Pittsburg. The following details of his admission, may be of in- 
terest as characteristic of the procedure of that day. In his ex- 
amination on experimental piety and the motives for seeking the 
gospel ministry. Dr. Herron, as one of the committee, expressed 
himself as satisfied from personal knowledge, but one question by 
the other member of the committee, the eccentric Dr. Brown, 
President of Jefferson College, was easily recalled in after years, 
namely: "Would you be willing to decline a call to a great church 
in the East, and go to the destitute West to preach the gospel, 
where you would have to live on bear's fat?" The committee to 
furnish a Latin Exegesis reported : ' 'An Christiis sit vere DeiisV ' 
which, when read subsequently, was referred, duly reported on, 
and approved. For a critical exercise, 2 Cor. 3:18 was assigned 



Biographical Sketch " xi 

him, and for a Popular Lecture, 130th Psalm. These were de- 
livered on the several occasions appointed; the popular lecture 
without manuscript, for which he was commended; and his clear 
strong voice, and freedom from embarrassment noted b}- a leading 
member of the committee. His own account was, that he was 
so frightened that he could scarely see anyone, and that he as- 
sumed strength of voice and courage of manner to prevent failure. 
On motion, Rom. 3:31 was assigned him for a popular sermon, 
and the day on which it was appointed to be delivered happened 
to be one of a great political gathering in the interest of Harrison 
and Tyler, and Tyler was present as an auditor. After all these 
several tests, and examinations, as well, in Latin, Greek, etc., he 
was licensed to preach. After invitations to several other charges 
had been considered, he accepted an invitation to Marion, Marion 
County, Ohio, where he supplied the pulpit for three months, and 
then, on request, for three months more, but hesitated to engage 
as permanent pastor. During a visit to Carlisle, where he had 
not been for two years, largely influenced by the earnest wishes of 
his relatives and friends, he very regretfully declined the urgent 
call of the church at Marion to become its permanent pastor. 

He then connected himself with the Presbytery of Carlisle, 
aiid accepted a call to the charge of the Monaghan (Dillsburg) 
and Petersburg churched; and was ordained over it April 13th, 
1842. He remained with that people until obliged by impaired 
health, 1858, to resign the charge. He was not only a pastor to 
his people but a model citizen, interested in all measures pro- 
motive of the welfare of the community; and was especially inter- 
ested in the cause of public education, serving for a number of 
years as president of the Board of vSchool Directors. Such did his 
attachment to his people, and the community become, and their 
regard for him, that urgent calls to charges considered much 
more desirable were declined, at times with some difficulty, and 
at one time, only in response to petitions signed by all the resi- 
dents of the place, of all denominations. This course he never 
subsequently regretted, and many years afterward his old con- 
gregation, mindful of the former days, made him pastor emeritus. 



xii Biographical Sketch 

After his removal to Carlisle, in 1858, his health rapidly im- 
proved, and was almost completely restored, and, whilst he never 
felt free to assume the full responsibility of a charge, he con- 
tinued active in supplying churches, filling vacant pulpits, and in 
all the work of the church. He was a member of the General 
Assembly in 1844, 1861, 1865, 1875, and before the latter he de- 
fended, with Judge Williams, by appointment of his Synod, an 
important decision of the latter, and was appointed a member of 
the Judicial Committee. He was made moderator of the Sj'nod 
of Harrisburg in 1876, by acclamation. Upon the incorporation 
of the Presbytery of Carlisle, in 1886 at the request of the Trus- 
tees of the Presbytery, he prepared the device for the seal, ac- 
cepted by them, and adopted by the Presbytery. He was a man 
of scholarly habits and tastes, and always retained his interest in 
the classical languages and literature. He also became especially 
interested in historical research, vState and National, as well as 
local, and by rea.son of his well known thoroughness, and the 
painstaking character of his investigations, he became to be re- 
garded as an authority on many historical and biographical ques- 
tions. He was especially interested in the preservation of 
neglected documents and overlooked historical data, and had the 
pleasure of recovering many of considerable value, that might 
otherwise have been lost; and his collection contained many very 
valuable documents and rare books. 

As a frequent contributor to magazines and periodicals, re- 
ligious and secular, many of his articles were recognized as of 
high value, especially on account of the careful and thorough re- 
search embodied in them. A number of his public addresses 
were published. Even as a young man, whilst a student at 
Pittsburg, he proved quite a spirited and effective contributor of 
political articles in the heated campaign of that day. In his 
later years his correspondence with those apphnng for historical 
data and information, not only became quite a tax upon his time 
and strength, but prevented the completion of papers of his own. 
His name, however, appears frequently in publications of others 
with due credit. Many of his publications relating to local hi.st- 



Biographical Sketch xiii 

ory were contributed to the local press, and on account of the 
exhaustive research they embody, and their authoritative character, 
a number have been put in more permanent form, by republica- 
tion,* under the auspices of the Hamilton Library Association, and 
republication of others is contemplated. As a historical writer he is 
characterized by precision and accuracy of statement, and attention 
to the minutest details, recognizing the fact that in some apparently 
trifling detail may lie the clue to the solution of some more impor- 
tant matter. He was rigidly adherent to what presented themselves 
to him as the facts in any case. Although amiable in disposition, 
and always courteous in manner, and tolerant of opinions con- 
troverting his own, he was absolutely intolerant of inaccuracy in 
historical statement resulting from carelessness, or superficial in- 
vestigation. As has been said he had ' 'a passion for the accuracy 
of history. " His time, and any historical resources at his com 
mand were freely given to tho.se in quest of hi.storical informa- 
tion. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society 
of Philadelphia and of the Pennsylvania Historical Society 
of the same city, and corresponding member of the Numismatic 
and Antiquarian Society. He was for many years, from the 
time of its organization to his decease. Secretary of the Hamilton 
Library Association, of Carlisle, and was active in giving it the 
historical trend which has made it the officially recognized his- 
torical society of the county. He was an active or honorary 
member of many other historical societies. In 1869 he was 
honored with the degree of D.D., by the Western University of 
Pennsylvania and at the time of his decease, was a Director of 
the Western Theological Seminary. Such was his attachment 
to this institution, and interest in its work, that, before his de- 
cease, he founded a scholarship in it by the gift of three thou- 
sand dollars. 

Diiring a painful and prolonged illness of several years he 
maintained an unusual interest not only in his immediate sur- 

*01d Court Houses, of Carlisle, Pa.;— Molly Pitcher (Molly McCauIey) 
— Old Market Houses, of Carlisle, Pa.; — Andrd and Despard in Carlisle, Pa. 
—Old Jails of Carlisle, Pa.;— Old Wells of Carlisle, Pa.;— Louther Manor. 



xiv Biographical Sketch. 

roundings, but in all the affairs of the outside world,' up to with- 
in a few days of his decease, Nov. 27th, 1889. He was at the 
time the oldest member of the Presbytery of Carlisle, having 
joined it in 1842. (See Centennial Memorial of Presbytery of 
Carlisle, Vol. I, p. 444, Vol. II, p. 274). All who came in con- 
tact with him knew him as a man unselfish, public spirited, gen- 
erous in all his impulses, strong in his convictions, sincere in his 
friendships, honest and honorable in his dealings with his fellow- 
men, with a kind word or deed for all, and withall with a reten- 
tion of youthful spirits that made a friend of even the youngest. 
But above all, that which he would esteem his greatest praise, 
his highe.st endeavor, was to be a consistent Christian in his faith 
and life. 

In 1843, April 25, he married Ann Hays Blair, oul}^ daughter 
of Andrew Blair, whose name will be found prominently identi- 
fied with the Presbyterian church in Carlisle, especially with the 
organization of the Second Church*, and with many public enter- 
prises. He was president of the Board of School Directors for its 
first twenty-five years, to the time of his decease. His wife 
Elizabeth Hays, (see Elizabeth Blair, page 79) was a daughter 
of Joseph Hays, whose father Adam Hays, of an old Holland 
family, was born at New Castle, on the Deleware, and came to 
Cumberland County in 1730. The eminent physician Dr. Adam 
Hays was a brother of Mrs. Blair. He was a surgeon in the war 
of 1812, practiced medicine for a time in Carlisle, and removed to 
Pittsburg where he died in 1857. He married Charlotte McClure, 
daughter of Charles McClure, Esq. , of Letort Spring. A sister, 
Mary, was the wife of Dr. Charles R. Cooper of Clarksville, Tenn. 
(See 47 p, 85). The daughter of Andrew Blair was well educat- 
ed and thoroughly trained in Presbyterian usages, and, possessed 
of a genial, kindl}^ disposition, she made a model pastor's wife, 
and in her subsequent life in Carlisle, became a highly esteemed 
and useful member of thecommunitj'. She died Sept. 14th, 1875. 



*See page 19. 

See "Story of 30th Anniversary of a Pastorate" (Norcross) — Hist. Ad- 
dress, Jno. Hays, Esq. p. loi. 



Biographical Sketch xv 

Her only child, Mary Elizabeth Murray, born Feb., 11th, 1848, 
was married, Jan. 2nd 1868, to Professor Charles F. Himes, Ph.D. 
a member of the faculty of Dickinson College. Besides the edu- 
cational influences of her home she was fortunate in the advan- 
tages afforded at that time by the Mary Institute in Carlisle, then 
conducted by Rev. Dr. Clerc, rector of the Episcopal church in 
Carlisle, and Mrs. Smead, with a corps of unusually excellent 
teachers. She was graduated in 1866. The fondness for good 
literature resulting from this early training continued as one of 
her greatest resources for pleasure. She read broadly but dis- 
criminatingly. She made three trips to Europe, with her family, 
not as a desultor}^ traveller, but always with a purpose and plan, 
enjoying the best there was in natural scenery, historical associa- 
tions, art and archaeology, and especially the glimpses into the 
social life, with its 'gemiithlichkeit,' of the old German Univer- 
sity town, which she was permitted to enjoy through the cordial 
hospitality of the friends of her husband in his student days. As 
a girl she had become expert in amateur photography, before 
the introduction of the Kodak, and the excellence of some of her 
early work led to the publication, at the request of the publisher, 
of a small illustrated book on photographic printing b}^ the pro- 
cesses of that day; and it was only b}' her practical cooperation 
that as large a photographicall}- illustrated edition of a History 
of Dickinson College became a possibility. vShe was earnestly 
interested in the college, the classes as they came and went, the 
trustees and visitors during her husband's long connection with 
the institution, all of whom experienced her cordial hospitality. 
Although her home was the centre from which radiated her interest 
in everything that was good, as a citizen of the Borough she was 
actively cooperative with any organization that seemed to pro- 
mote the welfare of its people. For many years she was a man- 
ager of the Female Benevolent Society; was on the Board of 
Managers of the Todd Hospital, and its secretary from its organ- 
ization to the time of her decease. As a member of the Civic 
Club, from its organization, and for a, time Chairman of its Mu- 
nicipal Department, and member of its General Executive Com- 



xvi Biographical Sketch 

mittee she took an active part in its work. As a member of the 
Travellers' Club, no one enjoyed its meetings more than she. 

The large accumulation of historical matter left bj^ her 
father, much of it necessarily unarranged, had much of her in- 
terested and affectionate attention, and she was engaged in pre- 
paring portions of it for early publication. She selected from 
the collection left by her father, for permanent retention in Car- 
lisle, on account of its peculiar local interest, b}' deposit in the J. 
Herman Bosler Memorial Library, the Commission b}' the Conti- 
nental Congress, dated June 25th, 1775, of "William Thomson, 
Esquire," of Carlisle as "Colonell of the Battalion of Riflemen of 
the Province of Pennsylvania;" the first troops from south of the 
Hudson to reach Boston, and who created a sensation by their 
unique character and exploits, and became the 1st Regiment of 
the Continental Line. 

She became a member of the Second Presbyterian church of 
Carlisle, Maj^ 24th, 1863, on profession of faith. After her mar- 
riage in 1868, whilst she retained her membership, as a rule, 
she found it her preference to attend public worship on Sabbath 
with her husband, and in 1883, she transferred her membership, 
b}' certificate to the 1st Methodist church at Carlisle, and soon 
became actively cooperative in church work of all kinds. The 
intimate relations with many of the leading men of that denomi- 
nation, which her position brought her into, were a source of 
much interest and pleasure to her. She always, however, re- 
tained an affectionate interest in her old church home, and its 
people, and all that pertained to that denomination, and kept her- 
self well informed in regard to it. After a visit of several weeks 
to St. Louis, and the Exposition, on her return home, during a 
short sojourn with a married daughter in Illinois, she was taken 
ill, with what proved to be pneumonia, and passed away Decem- 
ber third, nineteen hundred and four. 

In 1879, Mr. Murray was married to Miss Lydia S. Foster, 
of Philadelphia, a daughter of Crawford Foster, (see p. 33,) 
who survives him. 



Semi-Centennial Tribute 

to 

The Founders 

of the 

2nd Presbyterian Church 

Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 

January 12, 1883 



"Tell ye your children of it, and let your children 
tell their children, and their children another genera- 
tion." — Joel i: 3. 



By 
JOSEPH A. MURRAY 



To THE 

Descendants and Successors 

OF THE 

Early Presbyterian Settlers 

OP 

Cumberland County Pennsylvania, 

is this humble memorial 

dedicated 

By the Author. 



PREFATORY STATEMENT. 



WE regard with feelings akin to those of veneration that 
which has existed through successive generations, and 
which has been the acknowledged means of un- 
measured good to mankind. This is true of some of the churches 
of our valley, churches of the olden time, gathered during the 
first half of the last century, and still strong and active and in- 
fluential; and our chief regret now is, that we know so little of 
their organization and early history, or of those whose piety and 
zeal and self-denial thus led them to honor Him in whom they 
trusted, as the actors then living have long since disappeared, 
and there is also in regard to these things a lamentable want of 
documentary and historic records as well as traditional utterances. 
Hence it is eminently proper and desirable to secure and pre- 
serve, while we have an opportunity, or while the material is 
available and reliable, the history of those churches, the origin 
of which is comparatively recent, but whose healthful growth 
and vigor and influence for good, thus far, may be safely re- 
garded as so many guarantees of an ecclesiastical longevity that 
is destined in the gracious purpose of heaven to extend far hence 
in the future, and be a blessing to our land and the world. 

We greatly hesitated before we consented to engage in this 
work, but finally yielded to the desire of the worthy pastor to do 
it; because we were induced to believe that, as we had been per- 
sonally acquainted with the Founders of this church, it fittingly 
devolved upon us to render the service desired, and to do it as a 
labor of love. We felt, too, that something of a pecuHar obliga- 
tion rested upon us to do it, in consequence of a Resolution by 
the Board of Trustees in May of 1860, according to which a com- 
mittee was appointed — consisting of the pastor at that time. Rev. 
Mr. W. W. Eells, with Messrs Andrew Blair, Robert Irvine, 
James Hamilton and the writer — who were "authorized to collect 
and arrange the documents and ascertain the facts connected 
with the Origin, Separation, and History of this church, and to 
prepare the same for publication," and excepting Mr. Eells, who 

[3] 



4 Prefatory Statement. 

has been living for many j-ears in Western Pennsylvania, the 
writer is, and has been for the last ten j-ears, the sole survivor 
of the committee. 

It was then distinctly understood that the pastor of the First 
Church was collecting and preparing material for the history of 
said church, (commenced "about 1858" and published in "1877"), 
and it was deemed advisable that the same service should be done 
in behalf of the Second Church. In giving" what we intend on 
this occasion we do not profess to cover the entire ground evi- 
dently contemplated by the Resolution — though we have an 
abundance of material — as, under the existing condition of af- 
fairs, we do not consider it prudent or necessary, nor have we 
any inclination to do so, and hope that which v/e have done will 
be accepted as an equivalent. 

Very carefully have we collected the material, and then 
most anxiously have we endeavored to verify every statement 
that we. have made; and if aught that we have written shall con- 
flict with other opinions, previously and elsewhere, given, it is 
not that we have been entirely ignorant of the latter, but be- 
cause, after very thorough examination and consideration, they 
have been regarded as somewhat erroneous. We give this pro- 
duction not as faultless or entirely devoid of mistakes, but as the 
result of great carefullness, and of as much research as our limited 
time would permit; we do not claim perfect accuracy in all the 
statements made, but we do claim to have exercised the most ex- 
treme care and effort to secure such accuracy, and we believe 
there are no serious errors in it. The sincere friend of historical 
truth will not be offended, if, in any instance, his own opinion or 
utterance has been found controvertible and, as such, corrected, 
so as to harmonize with the rigid demands of historical accuracy.* 

In the beautiful language of another, which we here make 
our own: "every passing day increases the labor of research, and 
a few years will obliterate all that we should desire to remember 
and presen'^e of our annals. We work like the lapidary, to re- 
place the scattered dies of a mosaic"! 

*The address was delivered in Jan. 18S3, but was prepared for publica- 
tion later, which will account for the occasional notice of an event that has 
since occurred. 

V'The Forutti'^ by David Paul Brown. 



I. EARLY HISTORY— INTRODUCTORY. 



'■'■There were giants tn those days.'''' 



SINCE the first settlement of our lovely and fertile valley, 
which brought here some of the choice aud _ winnowed 
wheat from the unpropitious soil and climate of the old 
world, it has been the admired home of a moral, thrifty, and in 
telligent people. These have produced at various times both 
men and women of distinction, citizens of commanding character 
and influence, who, like the towering oaks and vines here and 
there formerly scattered throughout our grand old forrests, were 
prominent and attractive, aud served special purposes, but never- 
theless, had the very desirable companionship of many others, 
who, though not so conspicuous, were equally as well developed, 
no less vigorous, more easily utilized, and more generally valu- 
able. 

The early settlers, chiefly Scotch-Irish in their origin, 
though not perfect, were a brave, and hardy, and enterprising 
people, simple in their habits, adapted to the demands and emer- 
gencies of their new home, and who, in an advanced degree, un- 
derstood and appreciated their personal rights, and conscien- 
tiously observed their obligations to God and their country. In 
ever}' sphere of life — social, civil, military and ecclesiastical — 
their record is generally a creditable one, and merits this favor- 
able recognition. 

Such a priceless legacy of Divinely selected parentage de- 
serv^es to be held in high estimation and suitably improved ; and 
if the children of such ancestry were favored by their birthplace 
and its surroundings, much more so have been the succeeding 
generations, in their cumulative means and facilities of training 
and culture, as well as proportionably greater ought to be the 
development and improvement of character in every position and 



6 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

relation of life, and such we fondly hope has been the general re- 
sult. 

In their incipient or rudimental state, the Home, the School, 
and the Church then formed a trinity of sacred interests and in- 
fluences, a union of inseparable factors, in the healthy growth 
and prosperity of the early inhabitants, that, has never since 
been rudely violated, and we trust, never will be impaired or im- 
perilled. Nor should it be forgotten, that, in these several instru- 
mentalities of intellectual and spiritual culture, that inimitable 
compend of Biblical truth, the Catechism of the Westminster As- 
sembly of Divines, justly held a front-rank position, and greatly 
contributed to the formation of stalwart character. 

We are glad to say that we have still within the limits of 
our ancient Borough, and occupying a commanding site on our 
public square, a large and beautiful edifice which we gratefully 
and pleasurabl}^ recognise as a laudable and permanent monument 
of the sterling virtue, liberty, and independence of the men and 
women of more than a century ago — a building whose firm foun- 
dation and symmetrical and substantial superstructure fitly sj^m- 
bolize and perpetuate the taste and talent and solid worth of 
those who planned and planted it. Thither did our sires repair 
to worship the God of their fathers in the manner of their own 
choice, and according to their own conscience and judgement, 
and thither ever since have succeeding generations gone for the 
same holy and cherished purpose. Long may it stand, as sound 
and scriptural in faith and practice of those who resort there as 
it is firm and steadfast in its well-set and regular walls from base 
to s^immit; and long may it continue to be a great center of 
spiritual light and life, whence shall flow streams of influences 
that shall elevate man and honor God; and in this way, from 
generation to generation, testify and express a suitable regard 
for the memory and virtues of its departed founders. 

Early in the settlement of our valley was the Upper Pennsbor- 
ough Presbyterian congregation established at the Meeting- 



Early History. 7 

House Springs*, where the old graveyard is, and where it piob- 
ably continued about twenty-five or thirty years, — including the 
time prior to the first installation, also the first ten years pastor- 
ate of the Rev. Samuel Thomson! from November, 1739, to 
November 1749, — as well as some of the succeeding years when 
the Rev. John Steel was the pastor. J During a portion of this 
time, a church stood on lot 136, at the southwest intersection of 
Hanover and Pomfret streets, where the Rev. George Duffield 



*It, and the congregation of Lower Pennsborough, now Silver Spring, 
there is reason to believe, were the first Presbyterian congregations west of 
the Susquehanna river — originally known as the people over the river, and 
as the Upper and Lower Settlement of the Conodoguinet. But John Craig- 
head was actually installed pastor of Hopewell, now Big Spring, the year 
previous to the installation of Samuel Thomson. Since then, "what hath 
God wrought?" Verily, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof 
we are glad." 

Our oldest churches had an inchoate existence and were visited by 
Presbyterial supplies before anyone of them had an installed pastor; and 
though the early records of Presbytery inform us as to the precise time of 
an installation, yet it is not known just when, previously, the congregation 
had been gathered together; and doubtless, in some instances, the Gospel 
had been preached and the ordinances had been administered in private 
houses, or in the open air, or temporary buildings, (sometimes a "tent," or 
sheltering roof of boards, with or without the sides enclosed, and sometimes 
of logs, or a frame structure weatherboarded, covered with clap-boards, and 
having rough seats or benches), prior to the erection of the large and sub- 
stantial stone edifices, some of which are yet standing at several sacred 
spots, and near memorable springs throughout the Cumberland Valley. 

tMr. Thomson finally settled at Great Conewago, and died in 1787. (Web- 
ster, 462. Nevi?t, 234). The remains of his first wife were interred in the 
graveyard at the Meeting-House Springs, and the old sandstone bears this 
inscription; "Here lyth ye body of Janet Thomson wife to ye Rev. Samuel 
Thomson who deed. Sep. 26, 1744, aged 33 years." — with some curious 
figures or symbols above the inscription. This inscription, now almost 
illegible, we carefully copied many years ago. Mr. Thomson, it may be 
added, was married twice, and his first wife was a sister of Andrew Holmes, 
Sen'r, of Bonny Brook, and the mother of the Rev. William Thomson. 
So Mrs. Dr. Davidson, nee Holmes, repeatedly informed me, 

tMr. Steel was from Ireland. He had been commissioned a military 
Captain, as well as previously a minister of the Gospel; he died here in 
August, 1779, aged sixty-four years, having been pastor of the church twenty 
years. His gravestone is a short distance south of the brick inclosure of 
the McClure and McCroskry family ground, in the old graveyard of our 
Borough. 



8 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

ministered,* and also "a two-story house of worship," on lot 
177, at the northeast corner of Hanover and Louther streets, 
and known as "Mr. Steel's meeting house in Carlisle" — so called 
to distinguish it from the one at the Meeting House Springs and 
also from Mr. Dufheld's church in town. As this statement is a 
novel, but a true and valuable one, we will here give our reasons 
for it. An old deed is in existence, f that was granted April 
16th, 1761, by Thomas and Richard Penn to the "congregation 
of Presbj^terians under the ministry of the Reverend Mr. John 
Steel," for a lot of giound in Carlisle, and the trustees named in 
it are, Thomas Wilson, John Davies, John Byers, William Speer, 
John Montgomery, and Ezekiel Smith. The lot is described as 
60 by 240 feet, and number 177 in the "General plan;" bounded 
on the south by "lyOwther" street, west by Hanover street, 
north by lot 178, and east by lot 191 — which limits clearly 
indicate it as lot 177 at the northeastern intersection of the 
two streets specified. This is very definite and satisfactory. 
But, in addition, there is a plan of Carlisle, made in 1764, 
on which the lot at that corner, as described in the parch- 
ment deed of 1761, is not only numbered "177," but it also con- 
veys to us the information that a "Meeting-House" then stood 
there, which we now certainly know was Mr. Steel's — just as the 
same plan gives us to understand that a "Meeting-House" stood 
on lot 136, at the south Vi^estern corner of Hanover and Pomfret 
streets, and which belonged to Mr. Dufl&eld's New Side Congre- 
gation. These are interesting and important facts, now published 
for the first time,| and they settle conclasively the locality of the 



*This church was destroyed by fire, March ii, 1798. Mr. Duffield was 
grandfather of the Rev. Geo. Duffield, who was pastor of the other church 
from 1816 to 1855. Hs was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 1732; graduated 
at Nassau Hall in 1752; studied Theology under Dr. Robert Smith; came to 
Carlisle probably in 1757; his first wife was a daughter of Rev. Samuel 
Blair, and his second was a sister of Col. John Armstrong, of Carlisle. He 
lived on lot 292, south side, East Main street. In 1772 he removed to Phila- 
delphia, to become pastor of the Third Church, and there died in 1790. 

tThis parchment was found among the papers of the late Judge Graham 
of Carlisle. See Appendix J. 

tjanuary 12th, 1883. 



Eakly Histoky. 9 

church which preceded the present stone church that stands on 
the northwestern section of the squ^are. It is also worthy of 
nc^tice that these two old churches — the first of the kind in Car- 
lisle — were precisely the same distance from the centre square, 
and in opposite directions from it, the one south and the other 
north of it. It is true that the deed was not granted for the lot 
177 until 1761, yet it is not improbable, that the two-storied 
house of worship was erected on it some time previously, as it 
was not uncommon for ground to be claimed, and even occupied, 
before a perfectly full title was given for it, and this fact explains 
the meeting of Presbytery there in October, 1760, by a resolu- 
tion adopted at a previous meeting in April. (It is a mistake to 
say it was in "1759," as stated by others*). It is worthy too of 
being mentioned here, that on the old plan of our Borough, 
which was made in 1764, by Judge Creigh, a Presbyterian elder, 
there is a drawing of what is designated as the "Episcopal 
Church," (which was a small stone building erected about 1760, 
and taken down in 1824), on the northeastern section of the 



*Dr. Ne%nn,m his "Churches of the Valley," published in 1852, says: 
"As we find in the Records of Presbytery of April i6th, 1760, a resolution to 
meet the third Tuesday of October, at Mr. Steel's meeting-house in Car- 
lisle," &c. p. 237. 

Dr. Wingm his history of the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle," 
published in 1877, p. 71, says: "As early as October, 1759, the Presbytery 
stood adjourned to meet at the Steel's meeting-house in Carlisle." 

In the summer of 18S2 I wrote to the Stated Clerk of our Presbytery to 
furnish me the true expression of the old records in regard to the above 
matter. He replied, that the volume containing the desired information, 
had been, by resolution of Presbytery, placed in the hands of Dr. W. C. 
Lane, of Mercersburg. Knowing Dr. Lane personally and by correspond- 
ence, as the Franklin County Historian, I addressed a' letter to him, stating 
what Dr. Nevin had published in 1852, and what Dr. Wing had published in 
1877; and as I had supposed the first statement to be correct, I wished him 
to examine carefully the original minutes, then in his hands, and let me know 
the exact truth iu the case. From his reply I make the following extract: 
"The quotation from "Churches of the Valley" is verbatitn et literaiim cor- 
rect. Presbytery met in Oct. 30th, 1759, at Pequea, and after a short session 
adjourned to the 3d Tuesday of April, to meet at Donegal. On the same 
page, the meeting, or rather the minutes of the next meeting, April i6th 
1760, are recorded. On the margin of the page are the dates, 1759 and 1760, 
opposite the minutes. Dr. Wing by overlooking the lower figures, 1760, 
might easily make the mistake. Dr. Nevin is right." 



10 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

centre square; aud on the northwestern section of the square 
there is no picture or drawing of any kind, but simplj' these three 
words, "Presbyterian church ground." This was in 1764, when 
the Old Side Presbyterians had their "Meeting- House, at the 
corner of Hanover and Louther streets, as stated in the old deed 
and indicated on the old plan, and when the New Side had their 
"Meeting-House" at the corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, 
(the agreement for the sale of which is also in existence), and, 
in as much as the Episcopalions had already their church edifice 
on the northeastern quarter of the square, it is very probable that 
the Presbyterians may have selected and claimed the northwestern 
quarter, (though not yet occupied, and for which the warrant 
was not granted until Sept. 12th., 1766),* for their prospective 
church there, which is the present building, and which was not 
commenced until 1769, nor was it entirely finished until many 
years afterwards. 

It is probable that the church at the Meeting-House Springs 
— presumably a wooden structure, as were the first two in town — 
may have been erected some time before the installation of Mr. 
Thomson, and may have been gradually and finally disused 
after the church in town had been erected, say about 1735 to 
about 1765. As early as 1734, "the people over the Susque- 
hanna," or "the settlement over the river," had the ministra- 
tions of the gospel by appointment of Presbytery; and such, we 
suppose, may have been the case from 1749 to 1759, the interval 
between the pastorates of Mr. Thomson and Mr. Steel. t It is 
also probable, that "Mr. Steel's meeting-house in Carlisle" was 
erected not long after he had been installed the successor of Mr. 
Thomson, and it is no less probable, that the old church at the 
Meeting-House Springs did not continue in use very much longer. 
The present stone church, on the northwest part of the square, 
could not have been used before 1772. 



*See Record Book in the office of the Clerk of the Court, Carlisle, U. 
U. Vol. I. p. 430. 

jThe volume of the Records of the Donegal Presbytery- from 1750 to 
1759 has been lost, and we cannot say certainly how the church was served, 
whether by supplies or by a settled ministry. 



Eakly Histoky. 11 

Tradition informs us that now and then, as a matter of con- 
venience or necessity, the old court-house in Carlisle had been 
used as a place of public worship. Certain it is, such had been 
for a long time the unsettled state of the country, in consequence 
of Indian excursions and depredations, that it was not easy to 
observe and maintain regularly the means of grace, nor to pre- 
serve data or records of church matters, and hence we can not 
now determine with absolute certainty just when the first churches 
were erected in town, or precisely how long they had been used 
as such, though in each case, we have certainly approximated it 
as nearly as can be. These rival churches, however, existed in 
consequence of the first schism in our denomination, which ex- 
tended from 174-1 to 1758, and the two bodies were distinguished 
as Old and New Lights, or Old and New Side, — Mr. Steel repre- 
senting the Old, and Mr. Duffield the New. This early schism, 
lasting 17 years, was of shorter duration than the comparatively 
recent division between the Old and New School branches of the 
Presbyterian family, which lasted about thirty-three years, from 
1837 to 1870, and we hope there will never be any occasion for 
another. In general the first schism was the result of a differ- 
ence of opinion in regard to revivals and also the necessary 
qualijications for the ministry, and the second schism involved 
measures and doctrines, with, perhaps, some mutual misunder- 
standings and misrepresentations. Though the g-eneral schism 
had been synodically healed in 1758, yet the complete reunion 
between the two congregations in Carlisle was not consummated, 
and the people did not meet in the same church until years after- 
wards. There was considerable feeling engendered and trouble 
occasioned when the first churches were built in town — probably 
about 1758 or 1759, and subsequently. Mr. Duffield having re- 
ceived a call to Philadelphia, left Carlisle about the time the pres- 
ent church was erected;* and afterwards, when time and reflection 
and Divine grace caused alienation to disappear, the two parties 

*It was commenced in 1769; after the massive foundation had been laid 
the work was interrupted, but finally the church was erected in 1772, and 
Dr. Duffield left Carlisle the same year. 



12 Presbyterian Churche.s, Carlisle, Pa. 

ecclesiasticalh^ coalesced. The New Side finished and occupied 
the gallery of the other church, not then entirelj' completed, and 
gradually came down as the pews on the lower floor became 
vacated. This harmonious settlement was effected in May of 
1786, chiefl}' through the judicious and conciliatory influence of 
Rev, Dr. Robert Davidson — "a blessed peacemaker." This is 
the simple and beautiful epitaph on his gravestone, the well 
merited tribute of his onl}" sou, who, long afterwards, said of 
him: "His benignity of disposition and exemplary character 
helped to heal previously existing alienations and consolidated 
all parties, both Old and New Lights, in uninterrupted har- 
mony."* We have the original terms of union, as well as the 
list of the names of those persons who had taken pews on the 
gallery, in June following the union, including about 50 names, 
and some of these among our oldest and best families. ^"i" At first 
Dr. Davidson, then professor in Dickinson College, preached to 
the congregation part of the day, and Dr. Nisbet, President of 
the college, the other part.:|i 



*See Dr. Davidson's "Biographical Sketches of the Synod of Phila- 
delphia," 1S76, p. 62. The father was born at Elkton, Md., in 1750, and 
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1771. When 22 years old 
he was licensed, and soon afterwards ordained. When 23 years old he was 
appointed instructor in his abna mater, and shortly afterwards chosen pro- 
fessor of History, and assistant to Dr. Ewing, pastor of the ist Presbyterian 
Church in Philadelphia. He was 34 years old when, in 1784, he became 
Vice President of Dickinson Collci^e and professor of History and Belles- 
Lettres, and also pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Carlisle. About the 
time he left the city the University conferred on him the degree of Doctor 
of Divinity. In 1796 he was Moderator of the General Assembly. For 
several years after Dr. Nisbet's death, Dr. Davidson discharged the duties 
of College President He was a prominent educator, minister and writer; 
very greatly beloved by his flock, whom he served until his death, Dec. 13th, 
1872. He had been married three times; and by his second wife — daughter 
of John Montgomery— he had his only child, a son, born here Feb. 23rd, 
1808; and who, like his father, became distinguished in our church as an 
educator, preacher, and author; who often towards the close of his useful 
life, ministered with great acceptation to the 2nd Church of Carlisle, and 
died in Philadelphia, April 6th, 1876. Both father and son rest in our old 
graveyard. 

tSee Appexdi.x A; also B. 

XRupp^s "History of Cumberland &c. Counties" p. 421. Nevin's 
"Churches of the Valley,'' p. 237. 



Early History. 13 

In regard to the union, it would seem that each of the two 
congregations had appointed a committee with full power to ar- 
range for it. The committee appointed by Mr. Dufiield's then 
took charge, prepared certain terms of union to submit to the 
other party, which are given in the lately published history of 
the First Church.* But the writer of that history adds, that 
though these terms were "probably accepted," yet that they are 
"without date and without any direct evidence of being received." 
We have among our old church papers the "Proposals for a 
Union" from the Old Side, brief and very kindly expressed, but 
they are also without date. What is more important, however, 
we have another old paper that gives the "Terms agreed to by 
the committees of the two congregations in Carlisle for effecting 
a Union," and it is dated "May 5th, 1786." These terms, like 
those published in the aforesaid history, are six in number, but 
more concise, and also differ somewhat in the terms proposed. f 

The first well known intimation of the proposed erection of 
a church on "the north side of the square" was in "1757" — we 
refer to the memorable and often misquoted and uncorroborated 
paragraph from the Armstrong letter of June 30th, 1757 ;| but 
it really was not until twelve j^ears afterwards that the present 
venerable and imposing church structure was commenced, and 
it is not very certain when it was entirely completed. For years 
we have had in our possession the original contracts for the 
building of the old stone church, all signed, and witnessed auto- 
graphicall}^ and they fully verify the statement here made.** It 
is probable,. however, that it was roofed in 1772, and then used 
as a place of worship, but it was not entirely finished and fur- 
nished until nearly twenty years afterwards. tt In it the symp- 
athizing element of the town and its vicinity continued to wor- 
ship for about sixty years, when the Second Presbyterian Church 
was founded. 



*]Ving's History, p. 125. 

tSee Appendix, A. 

jSee Appendix, C. 

**See Appendix, D. 

tlAs evidence of tliis statement, see Appendix, E. 



14 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

II. THE SECOND CHURCH ORGANIZED. 

We have thus briefl}^ referred to the origin and progress of 
Presbyterianism in our neighborhood, and have done so inasmuch 
as we regard it as a legacy in which we are all interested, those of 
the Second no less than those of the First Church. It is a com- 
mon and yet an uncommon inheritance, — common, as belonging 
to us both, and uncommon because of its intrinsic value, its his- 
toric associations, and its directing and controlling power for 
good in the grand march of a high and God-fearing civilization 
in our land and the world. Without here giving a history of 
the separation, or detailing the causes which led to it, suffice it 
to say, that, in the autumn of 1832, for reasons considered good 
and sufficient, a petition from members of "the Presbyterian 
congregation of Carlisle," was presented to Presbytery, meeting 
then in Newville, asking to be organized into a separate church, 
on and after the first of the following January. This petition 
was signed by seventy-seven persons; 65 of whom were com- 
municants, 3 Ruling Elders, 4 Deacons, and 6 Trustees in the 
other church. The petition was unanimously granted, and the 
Rev. James Williamson and the Rev. A. B. Quay were appointed 
a committee to organize the church, agreeably to the desire of 
the petitioners.* 

As a matter of historical value, and no less pertinent to the 
present occasion, we will here give from one of the Carlisle news- 
papers of that time an official report of the proceedings connected 
with the organization of this church, just fifty years ago; and 
we do it all the more willingly as not a printing office in town 
has any files of the papers published here at that time, and hence 
to many persons the account will be alike new, and interesting. 

"SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH." 

Carlisle, Jan. 12, 1833. 

"The Committee consisting of the Rev. Messrs James Will- 
iamson and A. B. Quay, appointed by the Presbytery of Car- 
lisle to organize the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, 
met this day at the County Hall, together with the persons 



*For a copy of the petition, as well as some accompaning items of in- 
formation, see Appendix, F. 



Early History. 15 

who have been set off, agreeably to this petition, as a sepa- 
rate congregation.* Mr. Quay preached a sermon from 
Psalms 62:7 — "My refuge is in God." After an hour's in- 
termission and prayer for direction, the Committee proceeded 
formally to organize the church. The names of the persons, 
of whom the Committee had satisfactory evidence of being 
in full communion in the Presbyterian Church, were an- 
nounced as members of this church. The congregation then 
proceeded to the choice of Elders and Deacons, and Messrs 
Andrew Blair, John McClure, and Robert Clark, were de- 
clared to be duly elected Ruling Elders; and Messrs Peter 
B. Smith, Robert Irvine, Robert Giffen, and John Proctor, 
Deacons, who, having been formerly ordained to their re- 
spective offices, were now installed as Elders and Deacons 
respectivel)' in this Church. 

"At a congregational meeting, held after the above services, 
the following proceedings were had: — Mr. Robert Clark -^zs, 
appointed Chairman and J. Hamilton Secretary: It was 
then, on motion of Mr. Andrew ^\2\x .unanimously' Resolved, 
that a Committee of Twelve members be appointed, whose 
duty it shall be to superintend the Financial affairs of the 
Congregation for one year, or until a charter be procured, 
if that be obtained within the year: Any five of said Com- 
mittee shall constitute a quoium for the transaction of all 
business of said Committee. The said Corrimittee, or a 
quorum thereof, duly met together, shall have power to ap- 
point a Treasurer, whose duty it shall be, to pay out all 
monies received by him, on the orders of said Committee, or 
of any Sub-commitiee that may be appointed by them, for 
examining and allowing accounts against the Congregation, 
for paying supplies: And that 

George A. Eyon, Abraham Lamberton, 

C. B. Penrose, John Hays, 

John Stuart, William Irvine, 

James Hamilton, John Agnew, 

A. C. Gregg, John Williamson, 

Crawford Foster, and Andrew Holmes, 
be that Committee.' 

"The following Resolution offered by Geo. A. Lyon, Esq., 
was also agreed to unanimously: 



*The County Hall, or Grand Jury Room, was a large room at the south 
end and second story of the Public Buildings, in Carlisle, destroyed by fire 
on Monday morning, March 24th, 1845. 



16 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

'Resolved, That a committee of five members be appointed 
to obtain a charter of Incorporation for this Congregation, 
granting to us all the rights and immunities of a Presbyterian 
Church, agreeably to the laws of this Commonwealth, — and 
that 

Dr. John Paxton, Chas. B. Penrose, 

John McClure, George Metzger, 

and Peter B. Smith, 
be that Committee.'* 

"On motion of Dr. *Paxton it was, 

'Resolved, neni. cou. That a committee of fifteen persons 
be appointed to procure subscriptions in this County, and in 
such other places as a majority of said committee shall think 
proper to direct, for the purpose of aiding us in the purchase 
of a lot of ground, and erecting a suitable house of worship, 
that said committee, or a majority of them, be, and they are 
hereby authorized to purchase a suitable site for the said 
building, and make a report of their proceedings to a future 
meeting of the congregation, and that James Hamilton, Gil- 
bert Searight, James Thompson, Benjamin Fernald, John 
Huston, George Metzger, Andrew Holmes, John Hays, Wm. 
B. Murray, John Agnew, Charles B. Penrose, Abraham 
Lamberton, Wm. Irvine, Robert Young, and Geo. A. Lyon 
be said committe.f 

"On motion of Dr. Paxton, it was 
'Resolved, unanimously. That the Assembly's Book of 
Psalms and Hymns is the system of Psalmody approved of, 
and adopted for use by this congregation.'. 

"It was then ordered: That the proceedings of this meet- 
ing, duly attested, be handed for publication to the editors 
of the diflferent papers in this borough. 

"Robert Clark, Chairman. 
Attest 

J. Hamilton, Secretary." 

The foregoing we have faithfully copied from the Carlisle 
Expositor of Monday, Jan. 28, 1833, the several numbers of 
which we happen to have. In the report that we have copied 
the new year of "1833" is correctly given, but in the other three 



*See Appendix, G. 
tSee Appendix, H. 



Clekicai, Committee. 17 

papers, just published, the old year of "1832", having just ended, 
by mistake was coutinued in the types. 

It was our privilege to have been more or less personally ac- 
quainted with those concerned in the organization of this church, 
and we will now attempt to furnish sketches, or notices of the 
several persons mentioned in the proceedings of that meeting, a 
half century ago, especially as but one of the entire original 
membership is now living here — the writer's eldest brother, Wm. 
B. Murray, and there are only four others who are now living 
elsewhere. 



III. THE CLERICAL COMMITTEE OF ORGANIZATION. 

The Rev. James Williamson was one of the two ministers 
appointed by the Presbytery for this purpose. The family of 
which he was a member belonged to our valley, and lived near 
Newville. It was a family strong in all the elements of a true 
and vigorous manhood and womanhood, and has been honorably 
and usefully represented. It was then more difficult to obtain a 
a collegiate education than it is now; and this was particularly so 
where the children of a family were many, and the resources 
limited. In this instance, and it was evidence of a strong will 
and indomitable energy, six sons were liberally educated: James, 
Alexander, McKnight and Moses became ministers in the Pres- 
byterian church; William was a linguist and literary character, 
and for many years in one of the Government Departments at 
Washington; John became an honorable member of the Carlisle bar, 
and one of the original members of this church. Among the several 
daughters is the estimable wife of the Hon. Samuel Hepburn, a 
member and elder of this church, whose eldest son is President of 
Davidson College, Mecklenburg county, N.C., and one of the 
best educators in the country, and a younger son is a leading 
member of our bar, with one who is both lawyer and physician. 
James, son of David and Tamar (McKnight) Williamson, was 
born near Newville, June 11, 1795. Graduated at Washington 



18 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

College in 1817; was matriculated at Princeton Theological Semi- 
nary in 1818; and was ordained by the Presb5'tery of Luzerne in 
1821. During his long life he ministered to several churches in 
different places. At the time this church was organized he was 
the beloved pastor of the then large and strong church of Silver 
Spring, which position he held for fifteen years — from 1823 to 
1838. He was an instructive preacher, and faithful pastor. De- 
voted to the doctrines of our church, and of strong convictions, 
he needed no special exhortation to contend earnestl}^ for the 
faith, even though he should thereby incur the displeasure of 
those who might not be in sympathy with him. He died at 
Lewistown, Pa., March 10th, 1865, aged about seventy years. 
The Rev. Anderson B. Quay was born in Chester County, 
Pa., May 22nd, 1802. In early life he was a practical mechanic, 
but afterwards turned his attention to the ministry. He studied 
Theology at Princeton Seminary, and was ordained by the New 
Castle Presbytery in 1831. The same year he became the pastor 
of the the united charge of Monaghan (Dillsburg) and Petersburg, 
within the bounds of the Carlisle Presbytery, and so continued 
until 1839.* He was afterwards pastor of other churches in 
western Pennsylvania, as well as an agent of the Presbyterian 
Board of Education, and died at Beaver, Pa., Sept. 22nd, 1858, 
in the fifty-seventh year of his age. He was a man of respect- 
able abilities, good presence, and agreeable delivery; a practical 
and evangelical preacher; and very greatly esteemed by his old 
friends of Monaghan and elsewhere. His end was peace. He 
has but one child living the Hon. M. S. Quay, late Secretary of 
our Commonwealth, and named after his father's generous friend, 
Gen. Matthew Stanley of Chester county. 



*The writer was his successor in the same charge from 1841 to 1858. 
Among the Theological classmates of Mr. Quay were his co-Presbyters, the 
Rev. John Dickey, of Bloomfield, and the Rev. Dr. J. C. Watson, of Gettys- 
burg, also the Rev. Dr. Wm. T. Sprole, of the 1st Presbyterian Church, 
Carlisle, as well as the Rev. James Knox, born in Carlisle, and the Rev. 
David Sterrett who spent his last years in Carlisle. 



IV. THE ORIGINAL RULING ELDERS. 

Though the first named in the reported proceedings is An- 
drew Blair, yet he was the youngest of the three. Mr. Clark 
was the oldest, born in 1774, and Mr. McClure was born in 1784, 
and was the first one who died. 

Andrew Blair was born at Carlisle, April 10th, 1789, and 
here died July 21st, 1861, in his seventy-third year. His grand- 
father William Blair came to Carlisle from Lancaster, where he 
had married Mary Cowen; and his father came from Ireland with a 
wife and two children. William, the third child, was born in 
Philadelphia. He was a 'cordwainer' by trade, resided on East 
Main street, and was the owner of some 'outlots'. He has been 
described as "a flaming whig of 1776."* He was a trustee of 
the Carlisle Academy in 1781, and was one of three trustees of 
the Associated Presbyterian Church who bought of the Penns, in 
1796, the lot on South West street on which the stone building 
was erected, still standing, long know as the "Seceder" church. 
His name occurs as William Blair, Senior, on the records of the 
Union Fire Company, of which Dr. Davidson was president, and 
that of his son as William Blair, Junior. He died in Carlisle in 
1802 aged 73 years, and is buried in the Old Grave Yard. His 
son William Blair, the father of Andrew Blair, married in 1763, 
Sarah Holmes, daughter of Andrew Holmes, who lived near Car- 
lisle. He died in 1792, aged 32 years, leaving four children. 
Andrew states that he had always understood that his "father 
was a man of unblemished character and much respected, but 
died in possession of little of this world's goods." The two older 
children were Jane, who married John McClure and lived near 
Carlisle, and William, a printer of Philadelphia, a cultured 



*It is a tradition in the family, that, it having come to his ears that some 
one had intimated that he might not be a Whig, he took the most direct 
method of that day to make public and emphatic contradiction, by going to 
the Court House on Saturday evening, taking his stand upon the steps, hat 
in hand, and awaiting an audience, sure soon to gather in response to such 
a notification that an important statement was to be made. He then simply 
said, with very decided brogue: "If ony mon says Wully Blair is not a 
Whog he's a liar," replaced his hat and went his way. 

19 



20 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

gentleman, who after retirement from business resided in Carlisle 
until his decease in 1861. They were placed under the care of 
their grandfather in Carlisle, and Andrew, then only three years 
old, and his younger brother, Henry Cowen, lived with their 
mother at the home of her father, Andrew Holmes, about two 
miles south of Carlisle. He always spoke of his mother with the 
warmest affection as "one of the very best and one of the kindest 
of mothers," "whose early care and proper training no one can 
estimate. ' ' At nine years of age he tramped the two miles, to 
and from Carlisle, each day in attendance at school, thus getting 
three months schooling each year, until twelve years old. At 
thirteen he was put to the plough and other farm work, until, 
at fifteen, he was apprenticed to Robert Irvine of Carlisle to 
learn the tanning and currying trade. At the completion of his 
five years of apprenticship he made a trip to Philadelphia and 
back by way of Reading, for v>?ork and improvement, without 
success, the condition of the country being unfavorable; and on 
his return to Carlisle he took to "cutting wood by the cord and 
threshing rye by the bushel." He soon received employment at 
currying and tanning from Joseph Hays of Carlisle; then took 
the management of the yard, and the year after, when he be- 
came 21, he entered into a partnership with him for threee years, 
and subsequently succeeded him in business by the purchase of 
the property at the northwest corner of Hanover and South 
streets. This was deemed quite a bold financial venture for him by 
many of his friends at the time, but, with the confidence already 
established in his business ability as well as integrity, he had no 
difiiculty in obtaining money for his business on most favorable 
terms. In the meantime, March 31, 1812, he had assumed, what 
he regarded as a great additional responsibility, by marriage with 
Elizabeth Hays, the daughter of his partner. Dr. Davidson per- 
formed the ceremony. When the call was made for troops for 
the defence of Philadelphia, he marched promptly with Capt. 
Halbert's Company to that city, leaving his wife and small in- 
fant, but, as he states, with her full consent. The company was 
kept in service only six weeks. He joined the First Presbyterian 



Original Ruling Elders. 21 

Church July 20th, 1817, where he was ordained Deacon Jan. 12, 
1820, and was ordained Ruling Elder in the same Dec. 25th, 
1825. He also most faithfully filled the same office in the new 
church from its origin to his decease, and throughout this time 
had taken a very leading part in the growth and prosperity of 
the organization. He was so fully identified with it as to be ap- 
parently- almost a necessary part of it. In conducting the prayer- 
meeting, managing the Sabbath School, instructing the young, 
directing anxious inquirers, visiting the sick and bereaved, Mr. 
Blair was always prompt and welcome. Ever anxious to have 
the public services of the sanctuary regularly observed, he would 
himself, — on such Sabbaths as the pulpit happened to be vacant 
and without a supply — read a carefully selected sermon of some 
approved divine, and, being an excellent reader, and having- 
previously placed himself in familiar sympathy with the sermon, 
this service was alike enjo5^able and profitable. Few laymen 
were more intimately acquainted with the distinctive doctrines of 
our church than Mr. Blair. He was a very diligent business 
man — for his own family, and the church, and the public — yet 
he had a taste for reading and reflection, and fully gratified it. 
In addition to Scott's Commentary, and some works of the older 
divines, Dick's Theology, Symington on the Atonement, Steven- 
son's Offices of Christ, Harbaugh's works, Spurgeon's sermons, 
Alexander's works, Hodge's writings, Spencer's Pastor's Sketches, 
were among his books, and a sample of their general character; 
and when he was particularly pleased with a book, he would se- 
cure a copy for some of his children. He found time to read 
and to think, and then to talk about that which he had read. 
Often, however, he expressed his regret to the writer that he 
had not had the advantages of a proper education, or a mind 
suitably disciplined in early life; but, not having had such early 
training, he did the best he could in subsequent life, and did it 
admirably well. But, however grave and solid may have been 
the usual character of his reading, he nevertheless, fully enjoyed 
at times what was light and entertaining, and could narrate or 
listen to something that was amusing with evident enjoyment. 



22 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

In all his habits and engagements he was particularly sj^stematic 
and prompt, and, though busily and vigorously employed, did 
not permit one duty to encroach upon the domain of another. 
His chief pleasure consisted in the best discharge of conscious 
duty, and he did not understand how persons could seek pleasure 
merely for the sake of pleasure, and yet it was his obvious hap- 
piness to promote the rational and innocent happiness of others. 
Moreover, few laymen were better acquainted with the Govern- 
ment, and Discipline, and Order of Worship of our church, than 
Mr. Blair. He was a capital ecclesiastical law3'er, and was a no 
less earnest expounder and defender of the constitution of our 
church, in whose judicatories he was highly respected, and had 
his appreciated influence. He was a man of excellent judgment 
and great energy; fertile in devising or planning, and just as firm 
and prompt in executing. Hence he was well qualified to advise 
or act in emergencies, and was often consulted in seasons of 
trouble or difficulty. His experience and his ability were ever 
ready at his command to be used in the best way. He was equal 
to opportunities, emergencies, and contingencies. 

Prominently and earnestlj^ identified with the cause of pub- 
lic education in our community, as an advocate of the Public 
School system, and for the first twenty-five years president of 
the Board of Directors, he did not neglect any portion of our 
youth, and took an active interest in establishing and encourag- 
ing the school for colored children, who had been measurably 
overlooked previously, and which was afterwards so long under 
the wise and faitnful management of Miss Sarah Bell, — and let 
this, as fully and truly deserv^ed, be "told for a memorial of her." 
He also repeatedly and gratuitously furnished the children of 
her school with copies of that inimitable and honored compend of 
Bible truth, the Shorter Catechism of the the Westminster As- 
sembly of Divines, which was eagerly and thoroughly memorized. 
As an evidence of their grateful appreciation of his services in 
their behalf, he was agreeably surprised in receiving from the 
school, bearing a suitably engrossed certificate of presentation, a 



Original Ruining Elders. 23 

handsome copy of the New Testament, in large type, with the 
Book of Psahns annexed. There were few famihes, or young 
persons in the town that he did not know. He had generally a 
kind word of recognition or counsel when passing a boy or girl, 
white or black, and was treated with proper respect and consider- 
ation in return. Physically he was a large and stout man, very 
tall, perfectly erect, and admirably proportioned, with a massive 
and well-formed head, and a countenance that bore the impress 
of great benignity and firmness. During a painful and protracted 
illness preceding his death he received many expressions of 
human sympathy, both verbal and written, and he also realized 
in his experience the priceless preciousness of Divine grace. 

Two of his sons became Ruling Elders, here and in Phila- 
delphia; his son Henry C. Blair becoming the most efficient 
founder of the Princeton Presbyterian Church of West Phila- 
delphia, in which after his death a marble tablet was erected to 
commemorate his appreciated services and memory. The dutiful 
and devoted only daughter of Mr. Blair became the wife of a 
Presbyterian minister. 

John McChire, the second Ruling Elder of this church, was 
the son of Charles McClure by his second marriage— whose sister 
Mary became the second wife of Mr. Joseph Knox. He was 
born near Carlisle, April 17, 1784, at the Willow Grove farm, a 
portion of which afterward became his pleasant home. He grad- 
uated at Dickinson College in 1802, and in that institution he 
was a tutor in 1810. After his graduation he became a Divinity 
student; but in consequence of impaired health, and particularly 
a weak voice, he was constrained to abandon his prospective 
work. In September, 1806, he joined the Old Stone Church 
under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Davidson, and he was ordained 
a Ruling Elder in that church Dec. 25th, 1825, during the pastor- 
ate of Mr. Duffield, which office he very acceptably filled until 
his admission to the new organization. Eminently domestic and 
retiring, he spent his life generally in the midst of the duties, and 
enjoyment of his quiet and happy home on the Letort, in the 



24 Pkesbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

training and education of his children, and in the supervision of 
his agricultural interests, but he never forgot or neglected the 
claims of the church. Though ph5^sically a delicate man, he had a 
strong and well cultivated mind and a firm and decided will. 
He was an intelligent Christian gentleman, and a well read theo- 
logian. The Greek testament was his valued and almost con- 
stant companion; and among his works were the massive and 
solid Institutes of Turretin in Latin, and other old books of like 
character. He was a pronounced Presb5^terian, and was a faith- 
ful office-bearer in the new church, which he truly loved. He 
departed this life peacefully and hopefully, March 20, 1841, 
aged 57 years. He had married Jane Blair, sister of Elder Blair. 
One son graduated at Dickinson College in 1845, but whilst pur- 
suing a course of medical study died at the age of 21. The three 
daughters, formerly members of this church, are now members of 
our church in other places. 

Robert Clm'k was born July 2nd, 1774. He was a son of 
Wm. and Margaret Clark — the former dying March 29th, 1804, 
aged sixty-four years, and the latter dying Sept. 9th, 1821, aged 
eighty-one years, and both were buried in our town graveyard. 
William was born in Lancaster Countj^ Pa., 1740. At the be- 
ginning of the Revolution he assisted in organizing the Associa- 
tors, and became Colonel of one of the Cumberland batallions. 
He was a member of the Convention of July 16, 1776, and of the 
General Assembly in 1776 and 1777. He died at his residence 
in Middleton township. 

Robert Clark was ten 3'ears older than Mr. Blair, and the 
second one of the three who died. He too was connected with 
several of the old families of our valley, and his kindred belonged 
to the old church, in which he had been ordained an elder, Oct. 
6th, 1814. His large frame and venerable appearance, and ex- 
pressive countenance and deep toned voice we well remember. 
Elder Clark was a^careful and thrifty farmer and lived a few 
miles north of Carlisle, where he died Jan. 7th, 1856. His first 
wife, to whom he was married Oct. 6th, 1806, was Nanc}' Gregg, 



The First Four Deacons. 25 

widow of Charles Gregg, and daughter of WilHam and Mary 
(Parker) Fleming, who died March l7th, 1823; and his second 
wife, to whom he was married April 22, 182 4-, was Margaret 
Smiley of Sherman's Valley. Of his sons Robert was a Ruling 
Elder in the Presbyterian Church in Carrolltou, 111., where he 
died in 1869. William was a highly respected citizen of Mon- 
mouth, 111., where he died Aug. 23, 1888 in his 81st year. A 
younger son, Rev. Joseph Clark, who joined this church in 1843, 
graduated at Marshall College, studied theology at Allegheny, 
was a scholarly preacher and died as pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church at Chambersburg in 1865. James Clark, another son was 
ordained a Ruling Elder in this church in 1861, but is now a 
resident of Harrisburg;. 



V. THE FIRST FOUR DEACONS. 

Peter B. Smith yj2is born in Philadelphia, but spent a large 
portion of his useful life among us. He was a skilled mechanic, 
a' Justice of the Peace, and also a merchant, and very estimable 
citizen of our Borough. In 1851 he moved to Eafayette, Indi- 
ana, where he became an honored elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, and where he died June 21st, 1859, in the 68th year of 
his age. In a notice of him published at Eafayette at the time 
of his decease, we have this testimony: "In the death of Peter B. 
Smith, Esq. , our community has lost one of its brightest ornaments 
and the First Presbyterian church, of which he was a Ruling Elder, 
one its most valuable and esteemed members." He had been or- 
dained a deacon in the other church, Jan. 20th, 1820. FTe was 
also there, as afterwards in the Second Church, cordially engaged 
in the Sabbath School work; and as early as 1823 an address to 
the friends of that cause appeared in the Religious Miscellany, 
(then published in this place), prepared by a committee composed 
of "Peter B. Smith, John Holmes Agnew, Daniel McKinley;" 
and in the editorial preface to this address we are informed that 
the school had been "in operation since 1816." The last person 



26 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

named in this committee became the first pastor of the Second 
Church. In the charter of the church, April 8th, 1833, occur the 
names of fifteen trustees, and the first given is that of Peter B.Smith. 
We remember 'Squire Smith as an intelHgent man, churchly in his 
feelings, warmly attached to the Sabbath School and prayer-meet- 
ings, and as particularly gifted in public prayer. Hewas married 
twice; first to Miss Violetta Jackson, by whom he had two sous and 
three daughters, one of whom died in childhood, and then to Miss 
Mary Scoby, Aug. 9th, 1827, by whom he had three sons and 
three daughters. The eldest son, by the first marriage, joined 
this church in 1834, was a member of the Carlisle Bar, and died 
here in May of 1870. The Rev. Henry M. Smith, D.D., of New 
Orleans, — who was Moderator of the Southern General Assembly 
in 1873, who has also been for years the able editor of the South- 
western Presbythrian, and who lately completed the 25th year 
of a successful pastorate in the Third Presbyterian Church of the 
Crescent City, — is the eldest son of Squire Smith by his second 
marriage, and joined this church in November, 1843. 

Rohei't h'vme spent a long and useful life in our community. 
The family home was in the rear of the Spring, at the northeast 
intersection of East and Main streets, where he was a successful 
business man — a tanner, currier, and farmer. His father James 
Irvine, one of Dr. Davidson's right-hand men, was a farmer, 
whose plantation was a few miles below Carlisle, whither he 
went at an early day with his bride — nee Sarah Harris, of Pax- 
ton, to whom he was married by Parson Elder — escorted by fifty 
couple of friends on horseback; and where after raising nine 
children, he died May 5th, 1811, in his 85th year, and was buried 
at the Silver Spring Church graveyard. He had been one of Dr. 
Davidson's elders in the First Church; and his son John, was also 
an elder there in Mr. Duffield's ministry. His son James was a 
physician in Chillicothe, Ohio. Col. Wm. Irvine, another son, 
was for years the treasurer of the other church, and the first 
treasurer of this church. Mr. Robert Irvine had been ordained 
a deacon in the other church, Jan. 4th, 1829, which office he 



The First Four Deacons. 27 

there faithfully filled, and in the same capacity and manner he 
served in the new church. He was born Sept. 21st, 1781, and 
died Aug. 22nd, 1864. He had married Eleanor, daughter of 
Ross Mitchell; and Dr. James Ross Irvine— a graduate of Dick- 
inson College in 1830, ordained deacon of this church Sept. 25th, 
1864, died July 1869 — was his oldest son. His youngest and 
only surviving son Mr. John Irvine is a Ruling Elder in the 
other church. 

Robert Giffin — son of James and Martha Giffiu of the old 
church — was a good citizen and farmer of North Middleton Town- 
ship, where he was born Aug. 29th, 1797; he married Jane 
Holmes, and was related to the Elliotts, Clarks, Lambertons, etc. 
He had been ordained deacon in the other church Jan. 4th, 1829, 
and served as such in the new organization. In 1855, he, with 
his wife and son James — who had joined this church in Novem- 
ber 1853 — was dismissed to Cedar Grove Presbyterian Church, 
Lancaster County, Pa. He died in Camden County, New Jersey, 
Feb. 29th, 1872. 

John Proctor, born in Adams County, Pa., spent most of 
his life in Carlisle. For many years he had been an excellent 
mechanic and good citizen, greatly respected in the church and 
in the community. He, too, had been ordained a deacon in the 
other church, Jan. 4th, 1829, and served as such with acceptance 
in the new church. In December of 1835 he was elected, and in 
February following he was ordained a Ruling Elder in this 
church, and this office he faithfully filled until his death. He 
was born Aug. 10th, 1781, and died Jan. 10th, 1847. His eldest 
son — John Officer Proctor, then a member of this church — 
graduated at Dickinson College in 1839, afterwards studied theo- 
logy at Princeton, and has since been the faithful pastor of sev- 
eral Presbyterian churches; and one of Mr. Proctor's daughters 
is the wife of a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Thomas K. 
Davis, of Wooster, Ohio, and formerly a worthy minister of the 
Carlisle Presbytery — married by the writer Aug. 14th, 1851. 



VI. OTHERS MENTIONED IN THE ORGANIZATION. 

The following brief sketches iu the order in which the names 
occur, comprise the others mentioned in the proceedings of the 
meeting for organization. 

George A. JLyott, born in Carlisle, spent his long and useful 
life here, and here died — "after quite a protracted illness, borne 
in Christian patience and hope."* He lineally belonged to an old 
family that was honorably connected with the Public Service of 
our country, and was related to the Rev. Dr. Duflfield. His father, 
William Lyon, was born at Inniskillen, in the north of Ireland, 
March 17th, 1729, and came to this country about 1748 with his 
uncle Col. Jno. Armstrong. With Col. Armstrong he was em- 
ployed in laying out the town of Carlisle, and surveying the land; 
and this place was his home until his decease, Feb. 7th, 1809, in 
his 80th year. He was the first Clerk of our Courts, and the 
first Register and Prothonotary of our county. Frequently his 
name appears in the Colonial Records and the Pennsylvania 
Archives, as a leading and trusted citizen of our valle5^ He had 
also been a Ruling Elder in the old Presbyterian church until his 
death. His first wife was a daughter of his uncle. Col. Arm- 
strong, by whom he had one son. After her death, he married, 
in 1768, Ann, eldest daughter of William and Mary (Parker) 
Fleming, by whom he had fourteen children, five of whom died 
in infancy. (His father-in-law Fleming had a family of ten 
children, all of whom lived to marry. His wife was a sister of 
Major Alexander Parker.) His eldest child, Margaret, became 
the wife of the Rev. David Denny, for many >ears the pastor of 
the Falling Spring Presbyterian church at Chambersburg: John 
became a lawyer, married Priscilla Coulter, and settled in Union- 
town, Pa. Samuel was the father of the late Rev. Geo. A. Lj'on, 
of Erie, Pa. Alice became the wife of the late Hon. George 
Chambers, of Chambersburg, and George Armstrong Eyon, the 
youngest child, born here, April 11th, 1784, died here Jan. 6th, 
1855. Gen. John Armstrong, his grand uncle, had his home at 



*This quotation is made from the church Register, where it appears in 
the well-known handwriting of Mr. Lyon's old friend, Elder Andrew Blair. 

28 



Others in the Organization. 29 

the northwestern corner of Main and Bedford streets, and the 
nephew, William Lyon had his home on the adjoining lot. Here 
Geo. A. Lyon was born and — after raising a large family and 
living to be an old man — he died in the same house in which he 
had been born, this was also true of his cousin, and neighbor, 
Dr. James Armstrong, who died in Carlisle in 1828, in his 81st 
year; and it was then mentioned as singularly remarkable that, 
in this country, a man of his age should have died in the same 
house and room in which he had been born. 

William Lyon's father, John Lyon, and his wife — nee Mar- 
garet Armstrong — with several children, came from Ireland to 
America in 1763, after his son William had immigrated, and 
settled in Tuscarora Valle)'-, then a part of Cumberland County, 
His son Samuel thence moved to Carlisle, and here occupied 
several official positions, as Register and Recorder, Commissioner 
of Purchase (for the army) in Cumberland county, etc. He mar- 
ried Ellen Blaine, of Carlisle, sister of Col. Ephraim Blaine, by 
whom he had several children. His daughter Margaret, married 
her first cousin, James Blaine, son of Col. Ephraim Blaine. The 
first of their children, Ephraim, married Maria Gillespie, a 
daughter of Neill Gillespie, Jr., who lived near Brownsville, 
Fayette County, Pa., by whom he had two children — Hon. James 
G. Blaine and a daaghter Mary, who married Mr. Walker. 

John Lyon, who was Clerk of the Quarter Sessions for Cum- 
berland county, in 1794, wa'S a nephew of William and Samuel 
Lyon; he married Miss Jane Maclay, daughter of the Hon. 
William Maclay, (who was the first U. S Senator from Pennsyl- 
vania, and whose wife had beeji Mary (McClure) Harris, daugh- 
ter of Jno. Harris, founder of Harrisburg), and their son William 
Maclay Lyon, was afterward the head of the well-known house 
of Lyon, Shorb & Co., Pittsburg. 

We have been thus full and specific relative to the Lyon 
family, because if any one man took a more earnest and active 
part than another in the separation, and formation of the Second 
Church it was Mr. Geo. A. Lyon. He was highly esteemed and 
honored in our community. A man of decided and positive char- 



30 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

acter, irreproachable in public or private life; of firm principles 
and strong will; of tireless energy and acknowledged influence; 
of cultivated mind and heart; of nervous temperament and 
active movement; having a finely moulded face, and a head 
covered with an ample suit of black hair, that greyed slowly as 
he advanced in years, and that curled naturally, and when un- 
shorn hung in ringlets on his neck and shoulders; and neither 
the expressiveness nor attractiveness of his eyes was obscured by 
the use of glasses. We remember him well. He was a member 
of the Carlisle Bar; the trusted and faithful President of the old 
Carlisle Bank; a member of the Board of Trustees of Dickinson 
College, from 1815 to 1833, and their secretary; President of the 
Board of Trustees of the other church, at the time of the separa- 
tion, and first President of the Board of Trustees of the new' 
church; in 1839 he was elected a Ruling Elder in this church, 
but declined the honor, but continued fully identified with the 
steady growth of the church during the remainder of his life. 
The monument at his grave — in addition to the statements, "He 
trusted in Jesus," and "His children rise up and bless him" — 
bears this no less truthful and beautiful inscription: 

Vir recti ienax 

et 

Fide iiicorruptus. 

All his children became consistent members of the Presby- 
terian Church. His two eldest sons graduated at Dickinson Col- 
lege in 1839, afterward studied theology at Princeton, and be- 
came ministers of the Gospel in our church. The eldest died at 
Richmond, Va., June 1862, the other has been for many years a 
scholarly educator in our state. The youngest, Thomas Lyttle- 
ton I,yon, born here April 29th, 1832, was the first child bap- 
tized in the new church, Jan. 13, 1833, then worshipping in the 
County Hall. In 1852 he became a member of this church by 
profession of faith. In the same year he graduated from Dick- 
inson College. For years he has been an honorable business man 
and a very estimable citizen of New Orleans; also an efficient 



Others in the Organization. 31 

Trustee, a devoted Sabbath school superintendent, and a most 
valuable member of the first Presbyterian church there.* 

The life of Charles BinoJiam Penrose is largely associated 
with the Bar of Pennsylvania, as well as with the legislative and 
political history of our Commonwealth. He was born near Phil- 
adelphia Oct. 6th, 1798; admitted to our Bar in 1821; married by 
Rev. Dr. James P. Wilson, March 16, 1824, to Miss Valeria F. 
Biddle, daughter of Wm. M. Biddle, Esq. of Philadelphia; was 
elected three times to the State senate; under President Harrison 
and his successor was Solicitor of the Treasury; and died suddenly 
at Harrisburg, April 6th, 1857. Though finally a resident of 
Philadelphia, he spent many years of his active career among us. 
He was not a communicant of this church at its commencement, 
but joined on examination Feb 1838. He was a Christian gentle- 
man, very genial and affable in his bearing. His face was at- 
tractive, and his uncovered head no less so— the crown was slight- 
ly bald, and this was regularly encircled with a corona of light 
hair, bushy, and inclined to curl, and he had a very agreeable 
expression of countenance a man alike popular and influential. 
His eldest son graduated at Dickinson College, (of which his 
father had been a Trustee) in 1844, and was until his death a 
member of the the Carlisle Bar. A man eminently kind and 
generous and sympathetic. Another son— who joined this church 
in 1843— graduated at the same college in 1846, and now stands 
high as a medical professor in the University of Pennsylvania; 
and another is the able Associate Judge of the Orphans' Court of 
Philadelphia. 

John Stiiait. son of Hugh and Ruth Stuart, was born in 
South Middleton township Oct. 26, 1794, and died there March 
28, 1870. He was an energetic and successful business man; a 
miller, farmer and honored citizen, and for many years a member 
and trustee of this church. He was the father of a large family, 
all of whom became members of this church. He filled the office 
of Associate Judge of our county from 1835 to 1857, and after- 

*He died March 29, 1883. 



32 Presbyteeian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

ward his eldest son, also a member of this church, was elected to 
the same position. His only surviving son is a Ruling Elder in 
this church. 

James Hamilton. Few men were so fully and disinterestedly 
associated with the welfare of this church and the community as 
a great-grandchild of the Rev. Samuel Thomson, the first pastor 
of the Meeting House Springs congregation — and the only son 
of Judge James Hamilton and Sarah (Thomson) his wife, who 
resided near the northeastern corner of Main and Pitt streets. 
He was born in Carlisle, Oct. 16th, 1793, and died here Jan. 23, 
1872. In 1812 he graduated at Dickinson College, of which his 
father had been a trustee; and became a member of our Bar in 
1816, but, having ample means, he relinquished the practice of 
law. He never married. He was a man of high and varied 
culture, wrote much, and published several tracts and small 
books, including "Notes on Prophecy," published anonymously 
in 1859. and "The Two Pilgrims" which appeared in 1871. He 
labored persistenth^ in the cause of education; was for many years 
a faithful trustee of Dickinson College; and from 1836 until his 
death a most efficient PubHc School Director, and first Secretary 
of the Board. In 1835 he was elected a Ruling Elder in this 
church, but modestly declined; and though subsequentl}^ elected, 
in 1856, was still unwilling to act as such. For a long period 
he was the devoted superintendent of the Sabbath School. He 
was very generous, contributing largely to the church and its 
various boards, and was a friend and helper of the poor. Some- 
what eccentric, he was eminently good, and modest, and useful. 
In addition to valuable property left to the Second Presbyterian 
Church there were numerous bequests to various benevolent ob- 
jects. 

Who that knew Alexande?- C. Gregg does not remember 
his genial countenance and warm heart and friendly grasp of the 
hand? He was the son of Charles and Nancy (Fleming) Gregg, 
born Sept. 8, 1796. He was one of our honest and honorable 
farmers; was elected Ruling Elder in 1835, but declined, but 



Others in the Organization. 33 

again elected in 183<), he consented to act. He removed to 
Monmouth, Illinois in 1846, and in the following year united 
with the Presbyterian Church there, and was elected a Ruling 
Elder. (At the same time Hiram Norcross — father of the Pastor 
of this church — was elected to the same office). He died Nov. 
7th, 1879. 

Craxvford Foster was a native of Carlisle. His father, 
Thomas Foster, came from Enniskillen, Fermanagh County 
Ireland, landing in Philadelphia, Aug. 1st, 1773, after a passage 
of over seven weeks. He came to Carlisle, where he married 
Rebecca Crawford of Mount Rock-. His son, Crawford, was born 
July 15th, 1787. His brother Alfred was a graduate of Dickin- 
son College in 1809, in the same class with President Buchanan, 
and was one of the most skillful physicians of Carlisle. One 
sister was married to Mr. Geo. Lee, of Cumberland county, and 
another was the wife of Rev. Joseph Brady, of Sherman's Valley, 
father of Rev. Ernest A. Brady, Sobieski Brady, etc. The 
father, Thomas Foster, owned the property on the public square 
now occupied by the Carlisle Bank, and built the three-storied 
brick building adjoining. He also owned the notable house ad- 
joining, built by Adam Hoops, the model of the First Presby- 
terian Church, as specified in the contract for its erection* In it 
he kept the principal hotel of the town for 16 years, at which, 
'Federal Inn," according to Kline's Gazette, "the British Min- 
ister, Mr. Erskine and suite, stopped," May, 1808. He was also 
associated in the government of Carlisle. After his wife's death, 
in 1812, he engaged in mrcantile business at the .southwest corner 
of Hanover street and the public square. He died Jan. 14, 1829. 
Mr. Crawford Foster, a practical printer, and afterward a mer- 
chant on Hanover street, joined the old church in May 1821, 
and became a trustee, but removed to Philadelphia, where he 
died Nov. 2, 1853. He had there married his second wife, Miss 
Lydia Ann Collett Bailey, daughter of Robert and Lydia (Steele) 
Bailey, publisher, granddaughter of Francis Bailey, publisher, of 



*See Appendix, D. 



34 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

lyancaster and Philadelphia. Her mother Lydia R. Bailey, after 
the death of an embarrassed hunband, built up one of the largest 
and most prosperous printing establishments in Philadelphia, 
and was also City Printer by the Councils. She died there Feb. 
21st, 1869. The younger son of Mr. Foster, by his first mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Pattison, daughter of George and Nancy 
(Holmes) Pattison, is a member of Dr. Thomas Murphy's con- 
gregation, Frankford, Pa.;* the older son has been for many 
years a worthy Ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Church in 
Galena, Illinois. His two daughters, by the second marriage, 
were active members of the Third Presbyterian Church, Phila- 
delphia, and one is now the wife of a Presbyterian minister. 

Abraham Lamherton was a farmer and trustworthy citizen 
of North Middleton Townwhip. His father, James Lamberton, 
and his brother Ross Lamberton had been elders in the other 
church, the brother removed to Oberlin, Ohio, where he died in 
1857. Abraham lyamberton was not a communicant at the 
organization of this church, but joined by examination in the 
spring following. He was elected a Ruling Elder in 1856, but 
declined to act. He was well known in the county and com- 
manded respect. He served acceptably as School Director, 
Justice of the Peace, County Surveyor and for two sessions in 
the Legislature. He died in the homestead, where he was born, 
Jan. 29th, 1869. 

John Hays, grandson of Adam Hays, and son of Joseph and 
Ann (Gordon) Hays — married July 1st, 1788 — belonged to a 
family that settled at a very early day in our valley. His first 
wife was Jane Pattison, a daughter of George Pattison Esq.. 
She joined the First Church with her sister in 1817. Her mother, 
Nancy Holmes, was a sister of Andrew Holmes. Mrs. Jane 
Hays died Dec. 12, 1823. Mr. Hays' second wife was Mrs. 
Ellen Wheaton, widow of Dr. Levi Wheaton, and daughter of 
Robert Blaine, to whom he was married, March 9th, 1831. Mr. 
Hays had been among our active citizens, engaged in several 

♦Died Jan. 12th, 1884. 



Others in the Organization. 35 

pursuits. He died April 29th, 1854, at his home, a few miles 
west of Carlisle, to which he had removed about 1842. His only 
surviving son, John Hays, Esq. , graduated at Dickinson College, 
1857, and has become a prominent member of the Bar. He be- 
longs to this church, and has been its efficient treasurer. 

William Irvine son of elder James Irvine of the old church, 
and older brother of deacon Robert Irvine had long served as 
treasurer of the First Church, and first treasurer of the new 
church. He died, unmarried, Aug. 21st, 1852. 

John Agneiv was a farmer and miller, owning the mill at 
the southeast suburb of our town. He was a modest, unassum- 
ing man, constant in his attendance at church service, lecture 
and prayer-meeting. His son William giaduated at Dickinson 
College in 1845, (in the same class with Gen. R. M. Henderson 
of our borough) studied theology at Princeton, became a tutor 
in Oakland College, Miss., where he died Sept. 17th, 1847. 

John Williamson, brother of Rev. James Williamson, gradu- 
ated at Dickinson College 1808; studied law under Luther Martin 
of Maryland, and was admitted to our bar in 1811. He was 
known as a wise councillor rather than as an advocate; was 
spoken of as a "walking law-library." He died, unmarried, 
Sept. 10th, 1870, aged 81 years. 

Andrew Holmes, born at Bonny Brook, near Carlisle, May 
24th, 1770, was the son of Andrew and Jane Holmes. The 
latter .survived her husband, and died here July 4th, 1815. Their 
town home stood where now stands the Second Church, where 
he lived as a retired farmer. He died Nov. 27th, 1855. His 
wife, Ann Holmes — a sister of Deacon Irvine — joined the Second 
Church soon after its organization, by dismissal from the First 
Church. She died June 16th, 1860. Their son, Dr. Wm. Irvine 
Holmes, graduated at Dickinson College in 1829; moved to 
Clarksville, Tenn., where he became a practicing physician, and 
married Agnes Ann Allen. Alfred Holmes, a promising candi- 
date for the ministry, died in his 21st year, 1835. The eldest 
daughter became the wife of Rev. Dr. Jno. M. Krebs of New 



36 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

York, a Moderator of the General Assembly. The youngest 
daughter, who joined this church by examination Nov. 1833, be- 
came the wife of Rev. Robert Davidson, D.D. 

John Paxton, born in Adams county. Pa., in 1796, was the 
son of Rev. Wm. Paxton, D.D., pastor of the lyower Marsh 
Creek church, and brother of Col. James Paxton, and uncle of 
the Rev. Dr. Wm. M. Paxton, pastor of the First Presbyterian 
church in New York City.* He was a leading physician in Car- 
lisle, but left in 1836 on account of his health for sometime, but 
died here in 1840. 

George Metzger, son of Paul and Susanna Maria (Bower) 
Metzger, was born in Hanover, Pa., Nov. 19th, 1782, and died 
here unmarried, June 10th, 1897. He entered Dickinson Col- 
lege 1797; was admitted to the Carlisle Bar in 1805; served as 
Prosecuting Attorney for our county in 1806; w^as a member of 
the Pennsylvania Legislature 1813-1814. He had been a trustee 
of Dickiuson College from 1825 to 1833, and a warm advocate of 
its transfer to the present management, and bequeathed $500 to 
the literary society of which he had been an active member. To 
him we are indebted for the existence and endowment of the 
large and beautiful Metzger Institute of this place. He was for 
years a trustee of this church, and secretary of the Board. Though 
not a communicant, he was a pewholder and regular attendant. 
He was a man of slender frame, nervous temperament. Although 
modest and unobtrusive, he was bright and social, kind and 
charitable. 

Gilbert Searight had his home in South Middleton Town- 
ship, as had his father before him, after whom he was named, 
who died Sept. 30, 1813. He was a substantial farmer, and an 
estimable citizen; born in 1787, and died Dec. 4th, 1856. The 
family is still worthily represented in the communion of this 
church. 

James Thomson — sometimes spelled Thompson — lived in the 
large stone house, on the north side of East Main street said to 
*Now Professor in Princeton Theological Seminary. 



Others in the Organization. 37 

have been built by Robert Miller. He died Aug. 11th, 1843. 
His daughter Ann was married to Robert Mclntyre, Esq., of 
New Bloomfield, Pa., and Hon. Charles J. T. Mclntyre of that 
place, who graduated at Dickinson College in 1847, is his grand- 
son. Elizabeth was married to Charles Postley, and resided in 
Baltimore. Mary became the second wife of Martin Herman, 
the father of the Hon. M. C. Herman. The sons, James, William, 
and John removed to the West. 

Benjamin Fernald lived on the north side of Louther street, 
near Pitt street. He was born at Barnstable, Mass., May 28th, 
1792. In early manhood he made Carlisle his home, where he 
married Miss Oliver, and subsequently Miss Wright. He was a 
quiet, upright and industrious mechanic, a good citizen and an 
exemplary member of the church. In 1847 he removed to Jeffer- 
son, Indiana, where he long served as Ruling Elder in the Pres- 
byterian church. 

John Huston, was a respectable citizen and farmer, born in 
Dickinson Township, 1795, where he resided until his death in 
1869. Several of his children became members of this church. 
His father John Huston, Sr. came from Lancaster county. 

We remember Robert young as a venerable man, who lived 
on the west side of North Hanover street near its extreme end. 
In 1837 he was dismissed to the Silver Spring Presbyterian church, 
where he died in 1842. His only child, by his first wife, Robert 
Graham Young, M.D. — born Dec. 6th, 1809 — was a student in 
Dickinson College in 1827; and was also dismissed from this 
church to Silver Spring Church, 1837, in which he served as a 
Ruling Elder, as also in the church at Mechanicsburg, after its 
organization in 1860. 

Willimn B. Murray, was born in Carlisle, Sept. 4th, 1808. 
Married Margaret Parker Fleming, Jan. 9th, 1834. He served 
for years as a trustee of his church. His ancestors were among 
the early settlers of this valley. 



APPENDIX. 



In order the more certainly to secure the preservation of 
some very interesting and important old church papers — the 
originals of which we own — we here most faithfully transcribe 
them, or state their character, as well as herein give a similar 
form of permanence to some other matters of interest pertaining 
more especially to the Second Presbyterian Church in this place. 

J. A. Murray. 

Carlisle, Pa., 1883. 

A. 

TERMS OF UNION. 

The published terms to which we have referred, the original 
of which we have not, we here copy, so as to have them all to- 
gether, as follows: 

"A committee was appointed by the congregation lately 

under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Duffield, which proposed 

the following terms of union to the congregation under the 

charge of the Rev. Dr. Davidson, viz., 

1. That Dr. Nisbet receive an invitation from the congre- 
gations when united, to preach alternately or one-half the 
time with Dr. Davidson in the new meeting-house. 

2. That a salary be assigned to Dr. Nisbet at the di.scre- 
tion of the whole society, so long as he may continue to 
preach to us, and that no part of Dr. Davidson's salary be 
abridged in consequence of this union. 

3. That such of the members of the congregation, late 
Mr. Duffield's as shall subscribe to the present agreement, pa}- 
the price set or to be set on such seats as shall be allotted to 
them and such proportional assessments as may be required 
to be laid on all the seats from time to time for further re- 
pairs to the house. 

4. That the subscribing members of the congregation late 
under the charge of the Rev. Mr. DufReld pay their annual 



Appendix. 39 

pew-money to such collectors as the united congregation 
shall appoint, to be deposited in the hands of the Treasurer. 

5. That on the removal of either Dr. Nisbet or Dr. David- 
son by death or otherwise, a successor shall be called or in- 
vited by the united society as much to the satisfaction of the 
whole as can be obtained 

6. That immediately on the agreement of these proposals 
and the ratification thereof by the members of the two con- 
gregations, the members of the congregation late under the 
charge of Mr. Duflfield possess an interest in the new building 
and glebe and be entitled to an equal enjoyment and partici- 
pation of all privileges civil and religious with the members 
of the congregation now under the charge of the Rev. Dr. 
Davidson. And that the lots* now in possession of the con- 
gregation late Mr. Duffield's, be considered and shall be- 
come the common property of the united society, to be dis- 
posed of in such way and manner as they or a majority of 
them may judge to be most expedient." 

The first paper that we have in this connection, evidently 
written by Dr. Davidson, is endorsed on the back, "Proposals 
for a union of Messrs Steel's and Dufheld's congregations." 
(Mr. Steel, we may here state, was not living at the time, and 
Mr. Duffield was residing in Philadelphia, where he was the pas- 
tor of another church; but Dr. Davidson was here at the time, 
the recent successor of Mr. Steel, and he speaks of the congrega- 
tions as they had been generall}^ known in the community.) 
This paper, however, is without date. It is as follows: 
"At a meeting of the first congregation, 

"Resolved, that this congregation do heartily wish for, and 
hereby cordially invite the members of the congregation, 
late the charge of the Rev'd Mr. Duffield, to a union with 
us on the following terras, viz., 

"The members of the congregation, (late of Mr. Dufheld), 
as many of them as shall choose to accept of this invitation, 
shall finish our meeting-house from its present state, accord- 
ing to the original plan. 

That, having done so they shall have a property in the house 
immediately, so far as respects the gallery and those seats in 
the lower floor which may be vacant at the time of finishing 



*Two at the southwest corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, No. 136 
and No. 122, papers concerning which we have. J. A. M. 



40 Presbyterian Churches Carlisle, Pa. 

the house; and shall take precedency, or have choice of these 
seats acco'-ding to their subscriptions respectively. That as 
many of them as can be accommodated shall from that time, 
be considered as full and complete members of this congrega- 
tion, and entitled to all the religious and temporal privileges 
and emoluments of it, and subject to all the stated and inci- 
dental expenses thereof. 

That in the meantime, we will exercise all sympathy to- 
wards such of them as may choose to join us so as to accom- 
modate as many of them as possible in our seats, until our 
meeting-house can be finished aforesaid. 

And that in order to obviate and take away every ground 
of future distinction, between ourselves and those who, ac- 
cording to this plan, shall become members of this congrega- 
tion, all vacancies that shall happen in the meeting-house, 
after the finishing of it, whether in the upper or lower floor, 
shall be filled according to the subscription, without regard- 
ing whether the persons were original or late members of the 
congregation." 

The other old paper on this subject, which we have, is en- 
dorsed on the back "Terms agreed by the Committees of the two 
Congregations in Carlisle," and is as follows: 

"Terms agreed to by the committees of the two congrega- 
tions in Carlisle for affecting a union, May 5th, 1786. 

1st. That the members of the congregation, late Mr. Duf- 
field's, who subscribe for pews, and pay the annual pew- 
money, shall be entitled to all the privileges eujoy'd by Dr. 
Davidson's congregation in common with them. 

2d. That all future expense be paid by the united congre- 
gation, in proportion to their annual pew-money. 

3d. That all property belonging to either congregation be 
considered as belonging to the United Congregation, under 
the direction of the committee agreeable to their proposed 
charter of incorporation. 

4th. That the United Congiegation invite Dr. Nisbet to 
preach alternately with Dr. Davidson, and that such salary 
be annexed to his services as the majority of the congrega- 
tion ma)^ direct. 

5th. That on the death or removal of Dr. Davidson a Pas- 
tor be appointed to succeed him by the vote of the United 
Congregation. 

6th. That on the death or removal of Dr. Nisbet the vote 
of the United Congregation be taken whether a successor be 
appointed in his room." 



Appendix. 41 



OCCUPANTS OF THE GAIvLERY. 

The old paper in our possession bears on its back this en- 
dorsement: "A List of the names of Persons who have taken 
Pews in ye Gallery of the Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, June 
13, 1786," with some memorandums*. The number of pews 
thus taken in the gallery extends from one to forty-nine in- 
clusive, and the names of the persons are here appended in 
alphabetical order: John Alexander, Samuel Alexander, Wm. 
Blair, Catherine Bow, Thomas Brisband, James Brown, James 
Caruthers, Andrew Calhoon, Thomas Craighead, Thomas Creigh. 
Andrew Crockett, William Denny, Jun'r, James Diven, John 
Duncan, Stephen Duncan, Thomas Duncan, William Fleming, 
Lewis Fouik, David George, Thomas Greer, James Hamilton, 

Jonathan Hasson, Mrs. Harper, Huston, Samuel Irwine, 

Thomas Jones, Benjamin Kidd, John Laird, Matthew Laird, 
Samuel Laird, David Lindsey, George Logue, Abraham Loug- 
hridge, Samuel Lyon, William Lyon, Charles McClure, Alex- 
ander McDowel, Alexander McKeehan, William McPherson, 
Henry McQuown, Matthew Miller, Philip Miller, Norris Morri- 
son, George Nimirick, John Officer, Alexander Parker, John 
Patton, Hugh Patton, John Pollock, Samuel Postlethwaite, 

*[Among other memorandums on it are: "Mr. Greer has taken until 
this clay week to Consider whether he will take the seat in the Gallery no 30 
and if he Don't Declare to one of the Trustees that he will take said seat at 
the above day the trustees is then (will) at Liberty to give it to any per- 
son who may apply. 

nth Aug., 1787 John Montgomery. 

Thos. Greer takes the above Pew, 23rd Aug., 1787," 

"3 stoves — at 4-10-0 £13 10 o 

500 lbs. Sheet Iron - - - - - - - 18 15 o 

Making Pipes 5126 

Door.s and Hanging 126 



£30 o o' 



"Ralph Nailer, pd. £3- 0-0 
C. W. Vanlear 3-15-0 

Sam'l Lamb 2- 0-0 

and M'Calester i-ic-i "] C. F. H. 



42 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

George Robison, James Ross, James Rowney, Jacob Singer, 
James Stuart, Alexander Thompson, Moses Thompson, James 
Wallace, William Wallace, Nathaniel Weakley, J. Webber, 
David White, John Wray, Robert Wright, Joseph Young. 

Most of the persons named, with a few others, had pre- 
viously subscribed toward erecting the gallery and finishing the 
church, and the published statement has been made, that the 
amount raised was 414 Pounds or nearly $1100. The gallery 
then made was large and strong, reached by a heavj' and sub- 
stantial stairway at the southeast and southwest corners near 
each entrance, until 1827; the front of the church being on the 
south side. It was upheld by strong and well finished columns, 
two of which may now be seen in front of a building on the next 
lot, north, where they have been standing more than fifty years. 
The pews immediately along the front of the entire gallery were 
square, and these were separated by a narrow aisle from a double 
row of pews in the rear, or next to the wall, which were oblong. 
Accurately speaking, there were no square pews on the lower 
floor, excepting along the south side, between the entrances, 
where the Presbyterian aristocracy sat ; also one square pew on 
either side of the pulpit, which was then midway at the north 
side; as well as one square pew in the northeast corner, and one 
in the northwest corner. These were the only square pews be- 
low, and the floor of them all — excepting the two near the pul- 
pit — was about eight inches above the aisles and the floor of the 
other pews; and only these square pews had seats on all sides. 
All the other pews, (and they were the most numerous) were 
made in the ordinary manner — they were oblong, and had each 
but one seat. 

c. 

ARMSTRONG LETTER. 

The concluding part of a letter from "Col. John Armstrong 
to ," the name is not given, but supposed to be Richard 



Appendix. 43 

Peters, Esq., of Philadelphia, and dated, "Carlisle, 30th June, 
1757" is as follows: 

"To-morrow we begin to haul the Stones of ye building of a 
Meeting House on the North Side of the Square, there was 
no Other convenient place; I have avoided the place you 
Once pitch'd for a Church. The Stones are raised Out of 
Colo'l. Stanwixes entrenchments; we want help to this Polit- 
ical as well as Religious work. 
"I am vSir, 

"with the utmost regard and esteem 
"your most affectionate Humb'l Servnt, 
"John Armstrong." 

See Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. Ill, p. 192, The quota- 
tion as above given is a verbatim quotation, and a little different 
from that which appears in Rnpp's "History of Cumberland 
County," p. 431; Dufficld's "Centennial Discourse," p. 45; 
Neviiis "Churches of the Valley," p. 236. There is a redaction 
of the quotation in the Appendix; p. 348. 

We do not know anything more about the promised move- 
ment than is indicated in the above quotation. It is the only state- 
ment on the subject of which we have any knowledge. But it is 
absolutely certain that the existing' structure was not commenced 
prior to tJie year ij6g. 

The writer permitted a letter to be published in the Carlisle 
Herald of July 31st., 1884, and as it has a direct bearing on this 
.subject, we here give it in a slightly modified form.* 



*[At the time of the publication of this letter, in 1884, many of the inter- 
esting facts, conclusive of some warmly disputed points had not previously 
been published. It was called forth by a brochure, published by a member 
of the Luzerne county bar, which touched upon the point discussed in it. 
The chief facts, (as stated in the P. S. of the letter) were culled from the 
Memorial Address, and in anticipation of its publication. With the publi- 
cation of the latter, with its fuller details, the letter, now, is chiefly interest- 
ing as containing the first publication of the facts; and the printed copy of 
it was incorporated by the writer with the address as prepared by him for 
the press, doubtless, on account of this priority of publication. 

In giving it at this time, however, liberty has been taken to omit some 
portions of it, and to make a redaction of others, preserving only essential 
details, and referring to the published address and the letter as published to 
fill up lacunae as may be desired.] 



44 Prksbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

"Carlisle, Pa., July 16th, 1884. 
"My dear Sir: — 

I have noticed a brace of errors to which you will kindly per- 
mit me to direct your attention, as they are alike obvious to 
me and easily corrected. The first refers to the time when 
the old Stone Church here was begun, and the second to Mr. 
Duffield's relation to it. (Allusion is here made to the grand- 
father of Mr. DuflEield who was long afterwards the pastor of 
the church— from 1816 to 1835). * * ^ It is stated that 
'the Presbyterian Church of Carlisle had been commenced in 
1757,' and that 'Mr. Dufheld had been the pastor of the 
church for twelve or thirteen years before 1772.' Both these 
statements are erroneous; and that this may be all the more 
evident to you, I will here be excused in mentioning briefly 
some facts." [Here follows an account of the early congre- 
gations as given elsewhere]. "It is probable that what was 
afterward called 'Mr. Steel's Meeting House in Carlisle' — so 
called to distinguish it from the first or old one at the Meet- 
ing House Springs, and from Mr. Dufheld's at the south- 
western corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets — was erected 
not long after he had become the successor of Mr. Thom.son, 
or about 1759. But where did it stand ? The unhesitating 
answer is, on lot 177 on the northwestern corner of Hanover 
and Ivouther streets, and the following is the proof. An old 
parchment deed, recently come to light, by the Penns in 
1761 to the 'Congregation of Presbyterians under the min- 
istry of the Rev. Mr. John Steel' for a lot of ground in Car- 
lisle, which lot is fully described and limited as the corner 
lot aforesaid. Also a plan of Carlisle, made in 1764, on which 
the lot at that corner as specified in the deed of 1761, is not 
only numbered '177,' but it likewise conveys the additional 
information that a "meeting-house then stood there, which 
we now know was Mr. Steel's; just as the same plan gives us 
to understand that a 'meeting-house' stood on lot 136, at the 
southwestern corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, and 
which we also know was Mr. Duffield's" * * [account of 
division of the church into Old and New Side]. "Mr. Steel 
represented the Old Side and Mr. Duflield the New. The two 
churches in which they ministered were precisely the same 
distance from the center square, and in opposite directions, 
the one on the north side and the other on the south, just as 
we can easily suppose would have been the fact, as we have 



Appbndix. 45 

ample reason to believe that there was not the most cordiall}^ 
fraternal relation existing between them. But further, I 
have the original contracts for the erection of the present 
stone church. The first was executed in 1769. The founda- 
tion of the present building was then laid, but the contractor 
failed to finish it. A second agreement was made with an- 
other contractor iu 1771, and the building was resumed and 
completed. And let it be fully understood, that this was 
the work specifically and exclusively of Mr. Steel's people. 
About the time of its being ready for use, in 1772, Mr. Duf- 
field — between whom and Mr. Steel, as the minutes of Pres- 
b5^tery show, the most agreeable relation did not exist — ac- 
cepted a call to the the Third Presbyterian Church in Phila- 
delphia, and he was never succeeded by a pastor in Carlisle. 
But, mark it, fourteen years after he had left this place, the 
remnant of his former flock here united with the other Pres- 
byterian church under the co-ministry of Drs. Davidson and 
Nisbet. Mr. Steel, after being pastor of the church about 
twenty years, died here in 1779, and, as already shown the 
First Church building, erected whilst he was pastor, had an 
existence where it now stands about fifteen years prior to 
the long coming union in Carlisle, the terras of which were 
formallv agreed to in May of 1786." * * * * [sketch 
of Mr. Steel] . 

' 'It is presumable that the old church at the Meeting House 
Springs was soon or gradually abandoned after the erection 
of 'Mr. Steel's meeting-house in Carlisle,' which was 'a two- 
story house of worship,' at the corner of Hanover and 
IvOUther streets; and that the latter was also disused imme- 
diately after the erection of the present edifice, though the 
deed for the old church lot, 177, was not given until 1761, 
yet it is very probable that the church may have been put up 
some time earlier, about 1759, as it occasionally occurred 
that ground was selected and occupied before a perfectly full 
title had been obtained for it. This fact explains the meet- 
ing of Presbytery there in October 1760, by a resolution 
adopted at the previous meeting of April. Mr. Duffield's 
church was probably first used by him about 1759. He left 
it in 1772. It was destroyed by fire in 1779. And the 
ground was sold in 1792, according to the terms of the 
union. Mr. Duffield was the first and last pastor of it." * 
* * * "I am not aware, however, that he ever once 



46 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

preached, or was ever once present, in the old Stone Church; 
and I do not know why that building is so often spoken of 
as having been his church, (the erection of which he rather 
opposed then favored), unless it be merely because that four- 
teen years after he had left Carlisle the remnant of his old 
congregation here united with the First Church congrega- 
tion, and thence forward constituted an integral portion of 
it. Strictly and accurately speaking he was never either the 
predecessor or the successor of Mr. Steel, nor his co-pastor 
in the same church. But he was the only New Side min- 
ister settled in Carlisle, and his church was in another part 
. of the town. The foregoing statement, as I firmly believe, 
embodies the main facts in the case, and no amount of mere 
assertion or special pleading will convince me that the state- 
ment is not truthful and reliable, both in regard to the com- 
mencement of the First church and the first Mr. Duffield 
having been the pastor of it. 

"How does it happen then, you may ask, that so manj- of 
our generation have been led astray on this subject. * * 
The only reason for it of which the writer has any knowl- 
edge, was an unsubstantiated paragraph, taken from a letter 
written by Col. Armstrong in 1757, in which says: 'To- 
morrow we begin to haul stones, etc' That is all of it; and 
this often-misquoted and utterly uncorroborated and inap- 
plicable utterance, merely intimating the intention of some- 
thing future, is all that was known in 1857 about the sup- 
posed commencement of the First Church. I^et it not be for- 
gotten, however, that Col. Armstrong belonged to Mr. Duf- 
field's flock, and not to that of Mr. Steel; he was an active 
Elder of that flock, and his sister was the wife of Mr. Duf- 
field; and we may rationally suppose — judging from the 
strong feeling that existed between both parties towards 
each other — -that the Colonel had then no large and generous 
sympathy for the vSteel part}^ and its work. ***** 
If there were any stones hauled, as promised by Col. Arm- 
strong, it is highly probable that they were for the founda- 
tion of his own, or New Side Church, at the southwestern 
corner of Hanover and Pomfret streets, and which was likely 
commenced at the time mentioned in his letter. Certain it 
is, I have never seen, or heard, or known of any reliable evi- 
dence showing that there ever had been a church where now 
stands the one commenced— not 'in 1757,' but in 1769. In- 
deed I not only very greatly doubt that the place mentioned 



' Appendix. 47 

iu the Armstong letter refers at all to the place where is the 
present house of worship, but I honestly believe it does not, 
nor do I believe that any church ever stood there prior to 
the erection of the present admirable structure. According 
to the plan of Carlisle — made in 1764 by Judge Creigh, who 
was a Ruling Elder in the First Church — there is no indica- 
tion of a meeting-house standing there, as is the fact both 
at the corner of Hanover and IvOUther, and at the corner of 
.Hanover and Pomfret, but it is designated as 'Presbyterian 
Church Ground,' whereas on the opposite section of the 
square. East, there is given on the plan both the drawing 
and the name of the 'Episcopal Church.' * * * It is 
justly supposable that the so-called 'Presbyterian Church 
Ground,' on the northwestern section had been selected for 
the Presbyterian Church of the future. * * It was for 
the erection of the present church on this ground — a church 
.so exceedingl}' creditable to its founders — that an agreement 
was made, Feb. 16, 1769, which was duly signed by the 
stone-mason and the nine 'Commissioners nominated and 
Appointed for and in Behalf of the First Presbyterian Con- 
gregation at Carlisle in the County of Cumberland under the 
pastoral care of the Rev'd John Steel,' as reads the first con- 
tract, in which all the specifications are detailed, and the 
second contract executed April 26, 1771, is very similar to 
it. The more I examine and consider the matter the more 
am I convinced that Col. Armstrong intended to refer to the 
South side of the square, or to the lot at the corner of Han- 
over and Pomfret streets. It was a mistake, or lapstis calami 
that could be very easily made, especially in the usual hurry 
of writing a letter, as many others of like nature have been 
made and published even by the painstaking historian in 
grave and permanent history — and we know that it is not a 
difficult matter to do so — and might not Col. Armstrong 
make one such mistake in writing a letter currente calamo, 
and say 'North,' when he really meant to say 'South' side? 
* * * But it is immaterial just when the New Side church 
was erected, and it is also immaterial whether the Armstrong 
letter contains a slip of the pen or a typographical error, or 
neither; that which I insist upon, as now fully established, 
is that the First Presbyterian Church in Carlisle was founded 



48 Presbyterian Churches, Carllsle, Pa. 

or commenced iu 1769. and that the first Mr. Duffield was 
never the pastor of it," * H< * 

"Yours very truly, 

"J. A. Murray. 
"P. S. The chief facts which appear in the foregoing let- 
ter I have culled from the Memorial Discourse which I had 
carefully prepared and delivered on the occasion of the Semi- 
centennial Anniversary of the Second Presbyterian Church 
in Carlisle, January 12th, 1883. * * >i< In the Appendix 
of that discourse I have given, inter alia, the contracts for 
the erection of the First Church, in 1769 and 1771, as well 
as the Terms of Union proposed by the two congregations, 
and agreed to in 1786— all of which, Providence favoring, 
will be duly published, 

J. A. M." 

[With the admirable candor of the true historian, after the 
facts had been fully brought to his attention, Dr. Wing recog- 
nized the bearing, upon warmly controverted points, of this after 
discovered evidence, and published, April 1888, a leaflet of "Cor- 
rections and Additions" to his "History of the First Presbyterian 
Church of Carlisle, Pa.," constituting pp. 259-263 of the book, 
which was distributed gratuitously to all who had copies of the 
history. The following brief extracts will serve to show the con- 
clusion of the historian at that time, 1888. 1. Referring to p. 71 
of the history: * * 

"From the fact that the Presbytery agreed in 1759 to 
meet next year 'at Mr. Steel's meeting-house in Carlisle' 
we infer that the congregation had done what was then very com- 
mon, b}^ taking possession of and building upon ground for 
which a deed had not been obtained. On this lot the congrega- 
tion appear to have held their meetings without interruption for 
at least twelve years. It was not until 1769 that the foundation 
was laid for the stone building now in pos.session of the First 
Presbyterian congregation of Carlisle. For a long time the im- 
pression prevailed that this was the structure referred to in John 
Armstrong's letter to Richard Peters, dated 'Carlisle, 30th June, 
1757,' in which he writes: 'To-morrow we begin to haul stones, 



Appendix. ^ 49 

etc. * * * ' In the histories of Carlisle for mauy years it 
was assumed that this was the date of the laying of the corner 
stone of that building. A more careful consideration of the let- 
ter, and the discovery of papers not then made public, lead to a 
very different conclusion An old map of Carlisle, made about 
1764, locates an Episcopal Church on the northeastern part of 
the public square, and gives no indication of any church or of 
any structure on the northwestern quarter. Indeed, the warrant 
for the possession of the northwestern quarter of the public 
square, for public worship only, was not given by the Penns to 
the Presbyterians of Carlisle until Sept. 12th, 1766. * * We 
have notice that in August, 1761, two pounds ten shillings were 
sent from Susquehanna to Mr. Montgomery (not the Presby- 
terian elder of Mr. Steel's church, but a painter and builder), by 
James Patterson, 'to be paid to 'the Rev. William Thompson, 
and to be applied to the building of a church in Carlisle. ' As 
Mr. Thompson was then the minister of the Episcopal church, 
erected about that time, we are led to believe that the building 
alluded to was that which belonged to that church, situated on 
the south side of the northeasteen quarter of the square. As 
this too was only four years afterthedateof General Armstrong's 
letter, and as the English church was then closely connected with 
'political as well as religious work,' we need not be much sur- 
prised to find that civil officers like General Armstrong should 
speak of the building of such a structure as of common interest. 
Certainly there was no other church which was built near that 
time, and at the 'north side of the square.' 

Decisive also on this question of date are two doccments, 
now in posse.ssion of Rev. J. A. Murray, D.D. The first is a 
contract executed February 16th, 1769 * -^ *" and "the 
original of another contract dated April 26th, 1771." 

* * * * ;(; ^ :^ 

"6. * * * "as we have seen that the letter of General 
Armstrong (p. 71), had no relation to the building of the stone 
church, and that that church had not been commenced be- 



50 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

fore 1769, and had not been used for worship before 1772. * * 
* * The error had been created by the difhculy of understand- 
ing General Armstrong's letter with any other reference, and the 
consequent interpretation of that letter b}^ all writers upon the 
subject for more than a generation. For the truth of history 
however, it is gratifying that the veritable centennial has finally 
been ascertained."] 

D. 

CONTRACTS. 

The following is a true copy, verbatim et literatim, of the 
original contract: 

"Articles of Agreement Made and Concluded by and Be- 
tween John McGlathery Mason of the One Part and John 
Montgomery, John Byers, Robert Miller, John Davis, James 
Young, Jonathan Holmes, William Moore, William Miller, 
and Samuel Laird, Commissioners nominated and appointed 
for and in Behalf of the First Presbyterian Congregation at 
at Carlisle in the County of Cumberland under the Pastoral 
Care of the Rev. John Steel of the Other Part Witnesseth 
that the said John McGlathery for the Consideration herein- 
after Mentioned Doth Covenant and Promise to and with the 
said Commissioners that he the said John McGlathery Shall 
and Will find and provide at his Own Proper Costs and 
Charges all Materials Requisite and Necessarj^ (Excepting 
Scaffold Boards and Poles and Compleat and Finish the Shell 
of a Meeting House in the Center Square at Carlisle of the 
Dementions of Seventy feet Front and Fifty feet Deep in the 
Clear. The South Front and East end to be Ranged Work 
equal to the Front of Mr. Adam Hoops House in said Town.* 
The Foundation to the Floor be good and sufficient and 
three feet thick and the Walls above the Floor to be Two 
Feet Thick at Least the Arches over the Windows to be of 
Cut White Stone and a Belt Round the said Building of the 



*This handsome two-storied stone house on lot 173, afterwards the home 
of Mr. Thomas Foster, where is now the Egolff Boarding-House, and which 
was taken down some years ago, to make room for the present open front 
and three-storied building — on North Hanover street, at present (1889) 
owned by W. F. Sadler, Esq. 



Appendix. 



51 



same kind of Cut Stone and that the said Building be made 
of a Proportionable Hight and agreeable to the Plan and 
finished in Manner above Mentioned and Painted in a work- 
manlike Manner on or before the First Day of October next 
and the said John Montgomery, John Byers, Robert Miller, 
John Davis, James Young, Jonathan Holmes, William Moore, 
William Miller and Samuel Laird in Consideration of the 
said Work being Done and Performed as aforesaid. Do 
Covenant and Promise to Pay to the said John McGlathery 
the Sum of Fifteen Shillings ^ Perch Running Measure for 
said Work so Completed as above Mentioned Fifty Pounds 
Part hereof to be paid as soon as the said John McGlathery 
begins to Build the said House and the Remainder of the 
same in Tvv^o Equal Payments the One to be made on the 
First day of November next and the Other to be made the 
First day of May Anno Dom 1770. In Witness whereof the 
said Parties to these Present have hereunto Interchangeably 
Set their hands and Seals the Day and j'ear First Above 
Written being Feb'y 16th, 1769. 
Sealed and Delivered 



In Presence of Us — 



Robert Magaw 
Richard Tea* 



John McGlathery (seal) 



John Davis (seal) 

James Young (seal) 

Jonathan Holmes (seal) 
Wm. Moore (seal) 

Wm. Miller (seal) 

Saml. I^aird (seal) 

John Montgomery (seal) 
John Holmes (seal) 

Robert Miller (seal)" 

*The old paper bears the endorsement "Lodged by consent of the par- 
ties in ye hands of Rd. Tea," who owned the lot at the south-west intersec- 
tion of Main and Pitt streets, where the Mansion House now stands, and 
owned it as early as 1764. The name of John Holmes is attached to the 
foregoing agreement, but that of John Byers is not, though the latter is 
mentioned as among the Commissioners, and the other is not. 

[The complete endorsement is as follows:— "Article The Commission- 
ers. &c.. of Mr. Steels Congr'tion with John McGlathery. 

Lodged by Consent of Parties in ye hands of Rd Tea." In this en- 
dorsement as weli as in the body of the contract, the name is spelled 
"Glathery," whilst he signed his name "Glathry."^C. F. H.] 



52 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

After beginning the work, or laying the foundation of it, 
Mr. McGlatherj^ failed to finish it, and hence the following, — a 
true copy of another original contract: — * 

"Articles of Agreement Made and Concluded by and Be- 
tween Stephen Folk Mason of the one part and John Mont- 
gomery, John Byers, Robert Miller, John Davis, James 
Young, Jonathan Holmes, William Miller, William Moore 
and Samuel Laird, Commissioners Nominated and Appointed 
for and in behalf of the first Presbyterian Congregation at 
Carlisle under the pastoral care of the Rev'd Mr. John Steel 
of the Other part, Witnesseth that the said Stephen Folk 
for the Consideration herein after Mentioned Doth Covenant 
and promise to and with the said Commiss'rs that he the 
said Stephen Folk shall and will find and provide at his Own 
proper Costs and Charges all Materials Requisite and Neces- 
sary (Excepting Scaffold Boards and Scaffold poles which 
poles said Folk is to Cut and the)^ are to be bawled for him) 
and Complete and Finish the Shell of a Stone Meeting House 
in said Town on the Foundation already made by John Mc- 
Glathery which is seventy feet front and fifty feet Deep from 
Out to Out the South Front and East End to be good Ranged 
Work Superior to any Work in said Town Mr. Adam Hoops 
House only Excepted the Walls are to be two feet three 
inches thick to the Water-table and from thence to the 
Square two feet thick at Least and the Gables 18 Inches 
thick all Sufficiently built with lime and vSand Mortar the 
Walls are to be thirty feet high from the Foundation to the 
Square and the Gable ends agreeable to the plan of the Roof, 
But if it should be Necessary to build the Walls any higher 
said Folk shall be paid in proportion there is Rabits to be 
made in the Walls to Receive the Window bases Agreeable 
to the plan Drawn by Mr. Robert Smith of Philad'a for said 
House said Folk shall use the utmost of his Endeavor to 
have the Walls built in time for the Carp'rs to put on the 
Roof before Winter Next Ensuing. And the said John 
Montgomery, John Byers. Robert Miller, John Davis, James 
Young, Jonathan Holmes, William Miller, William Moore 
and Samuel Laird in Consideration of said Work being Com- 



*[The endorsement on this paper is as follows :— "Articles &c between 
Comm'rs and Stephen Folk." The name spelled here, and also in the l>ody 
of the contract, "Folk," according to the signature to the contract should be 
spelled "Foulk."— C.F.H.] 



Appendix. 53 

pleatly done and Finished as Aforesaid Doth Covenant and 
promise to pay to the said Stephen Folk the Sura of Four 
Hundred and Thirty-six Pounds Current Money of Pennsyl- 
vania* in the Following manner viz Fifty Pound at the be- 
ginning of said Work besides the Materials already provided 
which are valued at Sixty-six Pounds Eleven Shillings and 
sixpence which said Folk is to take in part of Pay and 
Ninety-two Pounds when the House is half Built and Ninety- 
two pounds More when the whole Work is Compleated and 
the Remainder at the Expiration of one year afterwards. In 
witness whereof the said parties to these presents have here- 
unto Interchangeably Set their Hands and Seals this Twenty 
Sixth Day of April, 1771. 
Sealed and Delivered 
in the presence of Us — 

James Pollock Stephen Foulk (seal) 
Wm. Alexander John Montgomery (seal) 
Robt. Miller (seal) 

John Davis (seal) 

James Young (seal) 

Jonathan Holmes (seal) 
Wm. Miller (seal) 

Wm. Moore (seal) 

Sam' 1 Laird (sbal)" 

John Byers' name is not among the names attached to the 
above agreement. The original of the foregoing is in the hand- 
writing of Robert Magaw, Esq. 

E. 

THE OLD CHURCH SLOWLY COMPLETED. 

It must be admitted that the "United Congregation" did 
not exist prior to the adoption of "the terms of Union," which 
led to it and produced it, and this did not occur until "May Sth, 
1786." The very "Proposals for a Union"t from Mr. Steel's 
people, render it very manifest that the church building was then 
incomplete. The first proposition is, that Mr. Duffield's people 
"shall finish our meeting-house from its present state, according to 
the original plan." The second proposition is, that, having done 

*About $1260. 
tSee Appendix A. 



54 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

so, theyshall have a right to "the Gallery and those seats on the 
lowerfloor which may be vacant at the time of finishing the house. ' ' 
And afterwards we have the proposition, "that in the meantime, 
we will exercise all sympathy towards such of them as may choose 
to join us, so as to accommodate as many of them as possible in 
our seats, until our meeting-house can be finished aforesaid. 
Does not all this language show, that in May, 1786, the church 
was not finished ? — and, if so, surely it had not previously re- 
ceived its "completion." 

Let us now look at some other cumulative evidence. We 
have an original subscription paper, gotten up by those who de- 
sired to see the church completeh- finished, dated "Carlisle, 21st 
May, 1787," and on it the autographic signatures of twelve very 
respectable men, who for the very purpose of expediting the 
completion of the work, advanced the sums annexed to their 
names, in the hope of being in due season reimbursed. Most 
certainly there would have been no occasion for this action in 
1787, if the work had been completed more than a year before. 
It is in the handwriting of Dr. Davidson, and is as follows:* 

"We the subscribers, wishing to see our house of worship 
completely finished, which we have reason to hope will soon 
be the case; and fearing that, notwithstanding the pressing 
calls of the Board of Trustees on former subscribers, and 
measures taken to obtain from them the sums which they 
owe, the immediate necessities and demands of the workmen 
will not be so speedil}^ answered thereby as to ennable them 
to proceed without interruption; hoping also that ever}' ex- 
ertion will be made, to collect those subscriptions on which 
the congregation has depended for finishing the house, and 
that the sums now advanced by us will be refunded, when 
the congregation shall have had it in their power, in conse- 
quence of their receiving said former subscriptions; do there- 
fore promise to pay into the hands of the Treasurer the sums 
annexed to our names respectivelv. 

Carlisle, 21st May, 1787." 

*[The only endorsement on this paper, in two lines, is as follows: — 

1787, May 23, Reed, of General Armstrong — In hard money — £2-0-0 

" " " Reed, of Ditto -In paper money — 3-0-0 

pr. me, John Creigh."] C. F. H. 



Appendix. 55 

Then follow the names of Robert Davidson, John Arm- 
strong, Robert Miller, John Montgomery, Wm. Moore, Samuel 
I^aird, James Irvine, Thos. Craighead, Stephen Duncan, John 
Creigh, Ephraim Steel, and John Agnew, with the specified 
amount subscribed b}- each, and payment also acknowledged as 
having been made "in hard money" and "in paper money." 

We have also a large and very interesting subscription 
paper — cut by frequent folding, and then sewed together — hand- 
somely prefaced, and bearing the autographic signatures of about 
seventy ladies, including the most prominent in the community, 
with those of a number of gentlemen, and the several figures an- 
nexed to their names aggregate a large amount in the currency 
of the times — in Pounds, Shillings and Pence. It, however, has 
no date, but was possibly issued in 1786 or '87, or sometime after 
the union had been consummated, as it is evidently a fruit of the 
union, and, as stated in its preface, the church was "'yetfarfrotn 
being completed.'' It is also therein stated that, "as the gentle- 
men are concerting measures for erecting a gallery, the Ladies, 
wishing to encourage them, as well as to evince their own zeal in 
the good work, undertook the finishing and ornamenting of the 
Pulpit. '' It is not an an easy matter to decipher a few of the 
names, but we here copy the paper: 

"A plan for finishing the Pulpit of the 1st Presbyterian 
Church in Carlisle. 
We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, taking- into 
our serious consideration the state of our house of worship, 
which is yet far from being completely finished, highly 
pleased to find that the gentlemen of their Society are 
concerting measures for erecting a Gallery, etc., and 
being earnestly desirous both to imitate their good ex- 
ample, and to strengthen their hands and heighten 
their zeal, in so laudable an undertaking — not willing 
that they alone would have all the merit and honor 
of making our house as decent and commodious for ourselves 
and our teacher as we wish to see it — have therefore upon 
mature deliberation, 7'esolved that we will take upon our- 
selves the finishing and ornamenting of the pulpit — for 
which purpose we will pay into the hands of our Treasurer, 
Mrs. Sarah Montgomery, the sums annexed to our several 
names." 



56 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

The following are the names, but arranged in alphabetical 
order: Sarah Allen, Sarah Blair, Catherine Bov.', Priscilla Boyd, 
Marie Butler, Sally Butler, Isabella Campbell, Margaret Cooper, 
Abigail Davidson, Margaret Didier, Sarah Duncan, Ann Eaken, 
Eleanor Ervin, Jean Forbes, Rebecca Foster, Agnes Gregg, Re- 
becca Gustine, Elizabeth Harper, Margaret Heap, Mary Hender- 
son, Mary Hunter, Ann Irvine, Ag. Jordan, Sarah Kennedy, 
Sofia Kouph, Elizabeth Laird, Mary lyaird, Isedo Lamb, Mrs. 
David Lamb, Mary Linsey, Rachel Lowry, Eleanor Lyon, 
Emelia McClure, Susannah McCroskey, Eleanor McCurdy, Ann 
McDowell, Elizabeth McDowell, Sarah McDowell, Jenny Mc- 
Keehan, Mrs. Martio, Sarah Montgomery, Hannah Morgan, 
Agnes Officer, Mrs. Becchy Parker, Rebeeca Parker, Jas. Parker's 
wife, Lucinda Piper, Grace Pollock, Mary Pollock, Mary Postle- 
thwaite, Matilda Postlethwaite, Stella Reed, Susannah Ross, 
Jannet Rowan, Elizabeth Semple, Mary Singer, Letitia Smith, 
Agnes Steel, Martha Stuart, Agnes Thomson, Eleulath Thomp- 
son, Rebecca Thornburgh, Elizabeth Vanlief, Sarah Wallace, 
Esther Weakley, Janet Williamson, Margaret Woods, Mary 
Wray; and the names of the several men, Samuel Alexander. 
William Alexander, Cristin Cart, Jacob Clouser, Samuel David- 
son, Samuel Edmiston, Lewis Foulk, Robert Gibson, Joseph 
Givin Samuel Gray, Wm. Lewis, John Miller. Phillip Miller, 
John Morrison and Hugh Wilson. 

Dr. Smith in his History of Old Redstone Presbytery,* tells 
us that it was not until ten or twelve years after said Presbytery 
had held its last meeting, in 1793, that stoves were introduced; 
that the measure met with great opposition even from some phy- 
sicians; and that the attempt to introduce fire into meeting houses 
produced in some places, even a greater commotion than the in- 
troduction of Dr. Watt's Psalms and Hymns. We may suppose 
that a somewhat similar feeling of opposition existed here, as 
may be inferred from the copy of another autographic subscrip- 
tion paper, prepared by Dr. Davidson, in 1790, and here given: 

*P- 157- 



Appendix. 57 

"We the subscribers taking into serious consideration the 
necessity of Stoves in our church, during our long and severe 
winters, in order that the attendance on public worship may 
be more general, safe, and profitable, and in full confidence 
that the cash collected for this purpose will be applied as 
soon and effectually, as may be, to the above mentioned De- 
sign; Do promise to pay, on demand, the sums annexed to 
our names respectively, to such person or persons as may be 
appointed to receive and be accounted for the same. 
Witness our hands, January, 1790." 

And to which is appended the following list of names: "Chas. 
M. McClure, John Hunter, Jno. Miller, Rob't Blaine, Samuel 
Alexander, Samuel Postlethwaite, Wm. Blair, Jun'r, Wm. 
Ivewis, Joseph R. Postlethwaite, Kph'm Steel, Wil'm Anderson, 
William Alexander, I^emuel Gustine, Sheriff Buchanan, Richard 
Parker;" with the several sums in shillings and pence specified. 
At the end of the list is a statement by Dr. Davidson that he 
had received of the foregoing sums Nine dollars, which he paid 
to Mr. Duncan, treasurer. And the back of'the paper bears this 
endorsement: "Collections for Stoves in the Presb'n Church in 
Carlisle by Mr. Foster. R. D. collected most of them." 

Well do we recollect the stoves of the olden time, — large six- 
plated, covered with bricks, and those who needed a foot- warmer 
carried a brick off the stove to the pew. They were intended 
more for utility than beauty, and would greatly contrast with 
some of their successors, or the modern appliances for heating 
churches. What a long length of sheet-iron pipe they had, sup- 
ported by iron rods and wire, extending up and over the gallery, 
and then projecting out of the front or south windows, with 
a h- piece on the end, as the church then had no chimneys, and 
had none until remodeled in 1828. And occasionally there would 
be a fuliginous liquid, or sooty drip from a loose joint in the pipe; 
but this did not greatly interfere with the devotions of the people, 
or injure seriously the building itself, the floor of which was not 
carpeted, and the aisles were paved with large square tiles or 
bricks. Methinks if the original membership were rehabilitated, 
and would reenter the present very beautiful and inviting church, 



58 Presbyterian Churches, Caklisle, Pa. 

what a change would be seen, and what a surprise would be ex- 
perienced! And yet those strong and massive walls have now 
been standing one hundred and twelve years, without a crack or 
bulge or any inclination from their original and rigid perpendicu- 
larity. Even the shelling of the invader of Juh^ 3rd, 1863, 
though it struck the east end, failed to pierce or damage the 
well built and substantial wall. 

Another subscription with the caption written by Dr. David- 
son, is given, as it refers to the next item of church furniture in 
the order of time: 

"We the subscribers promise to pay the sums annexed to 
our names respectively, for the purpose of procuring a large 
Chandeliere for the Presbyterian Church in Carlisle." 

And the names are here given alphabetically: "William 
Alexander, John Arthur, Robert Barckley, Simon Boi-^d, Thos. 
Butler, Chas. Cooper, Robt. Davidson, Thos. Foster, Jas. Givin, 
Sam'l Gray, Lemuel Gustine, Joseph Hays, Jno. Hughes, Jno. 
Hunter, Robt. Huston, Geo. Kline, Sam'l Laird, Jas. Lamberton, 
Wm. Lewis, Mary Lindsey, Arch'd Loudon, Jas. McCormick, 
Jno. McCurdy, Alex'r McKeehan, Edward Magauran, Jno. 
Montgomery, Jno. Morrison, Geo. Pattison, Jos. R. Postlethwaite, 
Sam'l Postlethwaite, Wm. Rainey, Geo. Rowan, Thos. Smith, 
Eph. Steel, Wm. Wallace, Jno. Webber." 

And endorsed on the same paper is a statement by Dr. 
Davidson that he had received and paid out of the several sums 
^18.7.6 on the 26th of March, 1794." 

Often when a boy have we admired that same old chandelier, 
with its numerous and many sided glass pendants, glistening in 
the sunlight and beautifully iridescent, or bright at night with 
its circular rows of burning candles that were placed in tin 
sockets, and so arranged as to secure the running of a "waster." 
When the church was remodeled, 1 827-' 29, the chandelier was 
given to that "Genuine Carlisler," the Rev. J. Miller McKira, 
for a little church that he served in Wormelsdorf, Berks County; 
and many years afterwards, its successor in Carlisle — a bronze 
chandelier with astral lamps, in which was used spermaceti oil — 



Appendix. 59 

was gotten by some church of our valley. In the early times, 
also, tin sconces holding candles were hung around the interior of 
the church, above and below the gallery, suspended to nails in 
the walls and in the wooden pillars that supported the gallery; 
and it was not until 1823 that Jacob Bishop — assisted by Henry 
Myers — was emplo3'^ed to hang several lamps from the ceiling, 
over the gallery, at the south side and the east and west ends. 

Also we have an autographic subscription, written in the 
very legible and easily recognized chirography of Dr. Davidson, 
dated "March 30, 1794" and signed by some country ladies, "as 
some cash w^as yet wanting to pa)^ for the ornaments of the Pul- 
pit, and as the pulpit itself was erected chiefly by ladies residing 
in Carlisle." These "ornaments of the Pulpit," we suppose, 
embraced the candelabrum on each side of the Bible, the cushion 
for the Bible, and perhaps the sounding-board, which at that 
time constituted a necessary part of church architecture, with 
the elaborate panel-work and mouldings of that hexagonal pulpit 
and the handsome wainscotting in its rear — all of which we re- 
member. And the persons subscribing were: Elizabeth Car- 
others, Mary Carothers, Jane Dunbar, Isbel Hays, Margret 
Carothers, Elizabeth Parker.* 

These time-worn and time-browned papers, so interesting in 
themselves, show conclusively that the old stone church — not com- 
menced till 1769 — was not completed so soon as March of 1786, 
and was not furnished until years afterwards. They also show 
the active and persevering part taken in such matters by the ex- 
cellent Dr. Davidson. If however the work was slow in its prog- 
ress, it was most substantial in its character, as what remains of 
it fully shows. 

[*The full text of the subscription is as follows. "We the subscribers 
being informed that som^ Cash is yet wanted to pay for the Ornaments of 
the Pulpit in the Presbyterian Church in Carlisle; and being also informed 
that the pulpit itself was erected by subscriptions by the Ladies of the 
congregation principally residing in Carlisle; wishing that our names may 
also appear as encouragers of so good a Design, Do promise to pay to Mrs. 

Dunbar the sums annexed to our names, to be forwarded to Philad'a 

to Mr. Montgomery, to reimburse him for what he has advanced for the 
Ornaments above mentioned. March, 1794." 

At the bottom — "reed pr me ;^2-i4-4>^ Robert Davidson." 

The endorsement on the paper reads, "Collections for the Pulpit By 
Mrs. Dunbar— March 30th, 1794. Rec'd of Mrs. Dunbar ;^3-i4-43^"JC.,F.H. 



60 



Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 



F. 

PETITION TO PRESBYTERY. 

Copy of the petition, with the seventy-seven names annexed, 
which was presented by Mr. Andrew Blair, in behalf of the 
petitioners, to the Carlisle Presbytery which met at Newville, 
November 28, 1832. 

"To the Reverend Presbytery of Carlisle: 
In consequence of the distracted state of the Presbyterian 
congregation in Carlisle, already known to you, we the sub- 
scribers, members of the same, do respectfull}^ petition you 
to divide said congregation, and form us into a separate so- 
ciety, under your care, taking such order in the case, as 
that the object of this our petition, may h^ fully 2in^ form- 
ally affected, from and after the first day of January next. 
Carlisle, November 20th, 1832." 



1. John McClure, Elder 

2. Jane McClure, Communicant 

3. Andrew Blair, Elder 

4. Elizabeth Blair, Communicant 

5. George A. Lyon, Communicant 

and Trustee 

6. Anna G. Lyon, Communicant 

7. Margaret C. Jackson, Communi- 

cant 

8. Margaret Jackson, Communicant 
. 9. Rebecca Ramsey, Communicant 

10. Mary Holmes, Communicant 

11. Sarah Irvine, Communicant 

12. Ann Craighead, Communicant 

13. Margaret Craighead, Communi- 

cant 

14. Elizabeth Kerr, Communicant 

15. George Murray, Communicant 

16. Robert Irvine, Communicant 

Deacon and Trustee 

17. Eleanor Irvine, Communicant 

18. James Wilson, Pewholder 

19. James Thomson, Communicant 

20. William B. Murray, Communi- 

cant 

21. John Agnew, Communicant 



22. Margaret Agnew, Communicant 

23. Lydia Biddle, Pewholder 

24. Jane W. Paxton, Communicant 

25. Thomas C. Lane, Pewholder 

26. John Harper, Pewholder 

27. Ursula Lamberton,Communicant 

28. Robert Clark, Elder 

29. Margaret Clark, Communicant 

30. Mary Clark, Communicant 

31. Robert Grififin, Communicant 

32. Peter B. Smith, Communicant 

Deacon and Trustee 

33. John Paxton, Communicant 

34. John Williamson, Pewholder 

35. James Hamilton, Communicant 

Trustee 

36. John Proctor, Communicant 

Deacon and Trustee 

37. Mary Proctor, Communicant 

38. Alexander C. Gregg, Communicant 

39. John Smith, Communicant 

40. Andrew Holmes, Communicant 

41. Robert Young, Communicant 

42. Margaret Young, Communicant 

43. Susan Blaine, Communicant 

44. Jane Logue, Communicant 



Appendix. 61 

45. Benjamin Fernald, Communicant 6r. Diana Lemon, Communicant 

46. Sarah B. Fernald, Communicant 62. Abraham Lamberton, Pewholder 

47. Rachel Cooper, Communicant 63. Martha Duncan, Communicant 

48. Charles B. Penrose, Pewholder 64. John Hays, Communicant 

49. Elizabeth Boden, Communicant 65. Ellen Hays, Communicant 

50. Sarah Boden, Communicant 66. Isaac Weakley, Pewholder 

51. Sarah McCommon,Communicant 67. John Huston, Communicant 

52. Isa.bella Love, Communicant 68. Eliza Huston, Communicant 

53. Crawford Foster, Communicant 69. Joseph Connelly, Communicant 

and Trustee 70. Sarah Ann Doyle, Communicant 

54. Mary Smith, Communicant 71. George Metzger, Pewholder 

55. Gilbert Searight, Communicant 72. William Irvine, Pewholder 

56. Sarah Searight, Communicant 73. Priscilla Boyd, Communicant 

57. John Stuart, Communicant 74. Jane Irvine, Communicant 

58. Elizabeth Bullock, Communicant 75. Catherine Ross, Communicant 

59. Mary Province, Communicant 76. James Breden, Pewholder 

60. Mary Laird, Communicant 77. William Edmond, Pewholder 

Of the above subscribers sixty-five were communicants, and 
twelve were pewholders; three — Robert Clark, John McClure 
and Andrew Blair — were Ruling Elders; four — Robert Irvine, 
John Proctor, Peter B. Smith and Robert Griffin — were Deacons; 
and six — Geo. A. Lyon, Peter B. Smith, John Proctor, James 
Hamilton, Crawford Foster and Robert Irvine were Trustees. 

In answer to the Petition, Presbytery unanimously adopted 
the following Resolution, and appointed the Revs. James William- 
son and A. B. Quay, a committee, to organize a church consist- 
ing of the petitioners, members and officers of the Presbyterian 
Church in Carlisle, so set off from that church: 

"Resolved, That the prayer of the minority of the Congre- 
gation of Carlisle requesting to be formed into a separate Society 
under the care of this Presbytery, from and after the first day of 
January, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, be granted, 
in view of the state of things now existing in that Congregation 
and known to Presbytery." 

The Second Church began its independent existence in Jan- 
uary, 1833, having then a communicating membership of 65 per- 
sons. During the year 1833 — in addition to the original member- 



63 PRESByrERiAN Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

ship of 65 — thirty-four persons joined from the First Church* 
besides those who had been received on examination, or by cer- 
tificate from other churches, making an aggregate of 48 additions 
during the eleven months succeeding the organization. During 
the fifty years the total number of those who have joined the 
church is about 1080, or an average of twenty-one and a 
fraction every year. Of these scores have moved to other parts 
of the country, adding strength as we trust to the cause of 
Christ elsewhere; scores have also finished their work on earth, 
and gone to the church triumphant; and today the church num- 
bers 400 — a much greater number than ever before, and there 
are only two churches among the 47 belonging to the Presbytery 
that are numerically larger — Pine street Church, Harrisburg, re- 
ported 488, and Big Spring Church, Newville, 411, according to 
the minutes of the General Assembly for 1881-1882. This is in- 
deed a most creditable and inspiring record, honorable to the 
founders of the church and their successors, and it verily be- 
comes us to feel and exclaim: 

"The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad" 



G. 

CHARTER. 

The charter may be seen in the L,aws of Pennsylvania of the 
Session of 1832-1833, pp 302-304. 



*The names of quite a number of persons do not appeat on the Register 
of the Second Church until a few months after its organization. This is 
true of quite a number of persons, who, like the "original members," are 
marked in the First Church "Manual" (Published by Mr. Dufifield in 
1834.) with the "d. by P." — dismissed by Presbytery — attached to their 
names; but we suppose as they may have happened not to be piesent at the 
meeting when the church was actually organized, they were not then en- 
rolled with the sixty-five, though, (as indicated by the "Manual") equally 
dismissed in November, 1832, to constitute the separate church from and 
after January, 1833. 



Appendix. 63 

H. 

FIRST CHURCH BUILDING. 
Soon after the organization there were several meetings of 
the Committee of Fifteen, the first one was held at the residence 
of Mr. Lyon, and the others at the residence of Mr. Hamilton. 
Sub-committees were appointed to solicit subscriptions; to secure 
drafts and plans for a building, not to cost more than $5000, 
and $20 for the architects services; and to examine several lots 
in town, their respective advantages and report. It was also de- 
cided that the building should be of stone, with Lecture and 
Sabbath School rooms on the first or basement story, and with a 
cupola or dome for a bell. 

Proposals were duly received and considered in regard to 
locations as follows: Mr. Hendricks Weise offered part of a lot 
on North Hanover street, west side and near Locust alley for 
$600, and the other half of the lot was offered by Mr. Henry 
Lecher for $700. Mr. James Underwood offered his house and 
lot, at the northeast corner of Pomfret and Pitt streets, for 
$1600, or the one-half, off the south end, for $700. Mr. James 
Thomson offered 70 by 120 feet on the north side of East Main 
street, not far from East street, for $1000; Mr. Jacob Bishop, 
70 by 120 feet, at the southeast corner of Bedford street and 
Liberty alley, for $866.67, with conditions annexed; Mr. Alex- 
ander Oliver the house and lot at the southeast cornei of Hanover 
and Pomfret streets, 60 by 160 feet for $2250. And Mr. James 
Given offered half a lot of ground adjoining Christian Humrich. 
After an interchange of views and opinions, the committee pro- 
ceeded to determine the question by vote, and on the third ballot 
the Oliver lot was selected. Whereupon Messrs C. B. Penrose, 
Jno. Hays, Jas. Thomson, Jno. Agnew, and Geo. A. Lyon were 
appointed a committee to make the purchase, but at a price not 
to exceed $2200. 

Afterwards the congregation was convened, heard and 
adopted the report of the committee; also continued the com- 



64 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisee, Pa. 

mittee, to make all necessary arrangements toward securing the 
erection and completion of the church edifice, agreeably to an ap- 
proved plan, and for such sum and on such terms as might be 
within the means of the congregation. A building committee 
was then appointed, consisting of Messrs C. B. Penrose, P. B. 
Smith, Andrew Blair, John Agnew, Dr. Paxton, Robt. Irvine 
and James Hamilton. The committee, previously appointed for 
the purpose, reported, that they had contracted with Mr. Oliver 
for the purchase of his house and lot, then occupied by Dr. Theo. 
Myers, at the southeast corner of Hanover and'Pomfret streets, 
for $2200. The report contains this .statement: "It is proper to 
remark that although this price exceeds what we could have 
wished to expend merely for ground to build on, yet when it is 
considered that there was no other site with. in our reach eligible 
in all respects, and that by a sale of part of the ground not 
wanted, and the materials of the house on the premises, the 
actual cost will be reduced to less than $1600, for a corner lot, 
combining the advantages of a central situation, with free air 
and light, on which is to be erected an edifice not merelj- for 
the accommodation of the present generation, but those who are 
to come after us, we are sanguine that what we have done will 
meet the approbation of all concerned, especially as we believe 
we have ample means, after paying for the lot, to erect with due 
economy a neat edifice without incurring debt." The action of 
the committee was approved by the congregation, and the com- 
mittee continued and authorized to receive from Messrs Andrew 
Blair and Robert Clark the said sum, and pa}- it to Mr. Oliver on 
the delivery of his deed agreeably to his contract. Here it may 
be proper to say something in regard to this trust and reserved 
fund, in the custody of Messrs Blair and Clark, upon which the 
committe had been directed to draw, and the following is a per- 
fectly reliable account of it. The Glebe Farm at the Meeting- 
House Spring, belonging to the Presbyterian congregation in 
Carlisle, had been offered for sale — the graveyard, and free access 
to and from it, being reserved — and it was purchased by Phillip 



Appendix. 65 

Weaver in January of 1827, for $3500.* After liquidating cer- 
tain claims out of the money thus acquired, the balance was in- 
vested in Carlisle Bank stock, worth in 1833 about $2800. The 
petition for the new church was unanimously granted by Presby- 
tery in November of 1832. Afterwards the Board of Trustees — 
having been desired so to do — gave the necessary notice, and 
called a meeting of the congregation, December 12th, 1832, to 
consider the matter of conveying to the persons forming the 2nd 
Church the aforesaid Bank stock. It was an unusually laige 
meeting of the congregation, and, excepting one remote voice, 
the action was unanimous. At this meeting the following facts 
were made manifest, and led to the result just mentioned. (1) 
The persons desiring the conveyance were not only very re- 
spectable in number and character, but they regularly contributed 
nearly one-half of the salary of the pastor, and of the contingent 
expenses of the church. (2) This was not only their standing 
and conduct, but their worthy ancestors had been active and 
eflEicient in the erection of the church and afterwards in sustain- 
ing it, and to a much greater extent than had been the ancestors 
of those who were left in peaceable possession of the property. 
(3) In 1832 the church building, lecture room and ground, in 
the northwestern section of the Public Square, were valued at 
$8000. As this property could not conveniently be divided, and 
as the majority would not sell it, those going out from the 
church— not willing to demand a full and just share, and anxious 
to avoid the very appearance of a litigious spirit — were willing 
to relinquish their joint right to and interest in this large amount 
of property for the comparatively small sum in the bank, and 
which could be available. Had they not thus magnanimously 
acted then, afterwards, when the Supreme Court of the State 
recognized theirs as the Presbyterian church, they might have 
legitimately claimed the whole property. It certainly was a clear 
evidence of Christian courtesy and magnanimity on their part to 
decline pressing their right to an equitable division of the church 

*County Records, Book K. K. V. I, p. 163, etc. 



66 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

property, and to be satisfied to receive the much less amount. 
All this was appreciated at the congregational meeting, since 
there was not only great and creditable unanimity in the action 
of that meeting, in directing the transfer of the aforesaid amount, 
but some of the noble-hearted who were there and remained in 
the old church, expressed a willingness, personally, to assist in 
the erection of the new church, and this they afterwards did. 
In accordance with this emphatic decision of the congregation, 
regularly called together, there was a meeting of the Trustees on 
Monday following, being December 17th — the public notice for 
which having been given the previous day — and a resolution was 
unamiously adopted making the actual transfer in trust to Messrs 
Andrew Blair and Robert Clark, than whom there were none 
more honorable or responsible in the congregation. 

The property thus purchased from Alex'r Oliver in 1833* 
had been purchased by him from Dr. Adam Hays in 1832, t and 
he had bought it in 1822 from Mr. John McClure the surviving 
executor of the estate of Andrew Holmes, Sen'r. | 

John C. Trautwine, a distinguished architect of Philadelphia, 
furnished two plans, and the more beautiful one was adopted. 
In referring to the selection thus made, he afterwards assured 
the committee that it "could not fail to give satisfaction in the 
execution." And added: "it is based on one of the most beauti- 
ful Grecian temples in existence, with such alterations as adapt 
it to the particular use required."** 



*Record Book, O. O. Vol. i, p. 313, and p. 452. 

tRecord Book, L. L. Vol. i, p. 376. 

tRecord Book, G. G. Vol. i, p. 181. He had bought it in May, 1808 
from Lindsey Spottswood, who had purchased it from Thomas and James 
Duncan, executors of Stephen Duncan, for 670 pounds, Pennsylvania cur- 
rency. See Record Book S. Vol. i, p. 296. 

**Mr. Trautwine was connected socially and professionally with some of 
the best architects of America. He has published several standard works, 
relating to civil engineering, and contributed valuable articles to some of 
our scientific journals. He died Sept. 14, 1883. See Journal of the Frank- 
lin Institute, Nov. 1883, Rail Road Gazette, N. Y., Oct. 15, 1883, with en- 
graved portrait. 




Second Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, Pa. 

Built 1833— Rebuilt 1871. 



Appendix. 67 

The lot having been chosen and purchased, the plan adopted,, 
and subscriptions encouragingly commenced, a contract was, 
made with Samuel Holman, of Harrisburg, May 14, 1833, to 
build it, pursuant to the plan, 50 by 70 feet, of stone and rough, 
cast, for $4325, the contractor to have all the material in the 
dwelling house then standing on the ground, and to be takeO; 
down at his own expense. The front was ornamental, with an 
Ionic portico of four columns of wood, thirty inches in diameter 
and eighteen feet high; with a terrace of earth raised a few feet 
above the street, and enclosed by a stone wall; and this terrace 
suitably paved and sodded, was reached by steps on either side, 
which did not show in front but only on either flank, near the 
front. The coUonade was also reached by several steps in front,, 
from the raised terrace. The Sabbath School room was across 
the east end of the basement — having two windows on the north 
with the reading desk between them, three windows in the east, 
and a window and door at the south side. The front entrance, 
being a high and double door, faced Hanover street, and opened 
into a lobby about ten feet wide, from each end of which was a 
stairway leading into the choir gallery over it; also three doors 
leading into the centte and two side aisles of the church, and as 
the centre was wider than the side aisles, the side doors were 
each single, but the centre door was double. At the east end, 
fronting the main entrance, was the pulpit, with a window on 
each side. There were also five windows on each side of the 
auditorium, including one on either side looking out of the lobby. 
All these windows were long and narrow, with semi-circular 
tops, excepting the two in front — one on each side of the chief 
entrance — which were oblong and square. There were double 
blocks of pews between the centre and side aisles, the entire num- 
ber of which was 76, with six on each side of the pulpit — in all 
88. The ends of these pews were painted white and numbered, 
with cherry cappings, sofa fashion, stained and varnished. The 
ceiling had stucco cornice and mouldings round the three aper- 
tures for the chandelier and ventilation. According to the 
agreement the basement was to be completed and fit for use in 



68 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

the autumn of 1833, and the entire building in the spring follow- 
ing. 

The building, whose beginning and progress had elicited so 
much of faith and prayer and pleasurable interest among its 
warm friends, was satisfactorily finished; and, both in its ex- 
ternal appearance and internal arrangements, was considered a 
model of beauty — very chaste and attractive, and greatly ad- 
mired. 

Subsequently the Board of Trustees appointed Messrs Ham- 
ilton. Metzger and Penrose a committee to have "a silver goblet 
made, of the value of thirty dollars, with a suitable inscription, 
and present the same to John C. Trautwine, Esq., architect, in 
the name of the corporation, and that they at the same time ex- 
press the thanks of the Board for the elegant plan of a church 
edifice which he so generously furnished, and the information he 
so kindly afforded the building committee during the construc- 
tion of the same" — all of which was very handsomely acknowl- 
edged by ]\Ir. Trautwine. The same committee were directed 
by the Board to "express to Mr. Holman, the contractor, the en- 
tire satisfaction and gratification of the Board in the construction 
and completion of the church edifice, and consider the building a 
specimen of taste and skill highly creditable to him as an archi- 
tect and workman." 

The statement below shows the amount received and ex- 
pended in behalf of the new building. 

Original price of the ground. $2200.00 

Amount of contract for the church erection. . . 4325.00 

Extra work — hanging bell, two additional 

pews, bricks, etc 22.25 

The furniture — including chandelier, lamps, 

candelabras, carpeting, cushions and stoves 785.72 

Bell of 400 lbs., $179.60, carriage of it $7.91, 

lightning rod, $16 203.51 

$7536.48 



Appendix. 69 

To meet the above the church had the proceeds of 

The bank stock $2800.00 

The first subscription book 3212.75 

Subscription for bell 209.00 

Second subscription for the building and its 

furniture 1371.50 

Newville subscription 77.00 

$7670.25 
7536.48 

Balance in favor of the church 133.77 

The expenses, however, for furnishing the church were 
afterwards necessaril}' increased, and some of the subscriptions 
were never collected, but all expenses were duly met and paid. 

As might have been expected the membership of the new 
organization gladly contributed, and some of them quite liberally, 
considering their circumstances and the times in which they lived, 
yet persons belonging to almost every other church in town gave 
to the object, including some members of the First Presbyterian 
Church, as well as persons in the Silver Spring and Big Spring 
congregations. The subscription book for the last place we have 
not, but we know that the aggregate amount was $77. We have, 
however, the two other subscription books, very creditable to all 
concerned, and also the original subscription for the bell; and 
without specifying the several sums contributed, whether large 
or small, as doubtless they were in each case acceptable and ap- 
preciated — we have given a list of the names of all the sub- 
scribers, in alphabetical order as interesting and fittingly due the 
memory of those concerned: 

Jno. Agnew, Wm. M. Anderson, Ed. Armor, B. Aughen- 
baugh, Jacob Baughman, Geo. Beetem, Wm. Bell, W. Bentz, 
Lydia Biddle, Ed. M. Biddle, Susan Blaine, And'w Blair, And'w 
Boden, Elizabeth Boden, Priscilla Boyd, Jas. Bredin, Margery 
Bryson, Rob't Bry.son, Jno. M. Butler, Elizabeth Campbell, 
And'w Chapman, Rob't Clark, Ann Clark, Joseph Clark, Jno. 



70 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

Clendenin, W. S. Cobean, Rachel Cooper, David Cornman, Mar- 
tin Cornman, Jno. Craighead, Eleanor Creigh, James Crever, 
Jno. Cnlbertson, Patrick Davidson, Gad Day, Daniel Dennj-, 
Elizabeth Denny, Jas. H. Devor, Henry A. Doly, Martha Dun- 
can, Jno. P. Dunbar, Jas. Duiilap. Wm. Edmond, Geo. Ege, 
Joseph Egolf, Mich'l Egolf, Jno. Elliott, Benjamin Fernald, 
Jacob Fedder*, Jacob Fettert, Jacob Fickes, Jno. Fierovid, Marg't 
Fleming, Jno. Fleming, And'w Forbes, David vS. Forney, Craw- 
ford Foster, Geo. D. Foulke, Elliott Giffin, Rob't Giffin, Wm. 
Glancey, David Glen, J. H. Graham, Jas. Graham, Wm. Graham, 
Alex'r C. Gregg, Rob't D. Guthrie, Jas. Hamilton, Sarah Hamil- 
ton, Wm. Harkness, Eewis Harliu, Jno. Harper, Jno. Hartzell, 
Jno. Hatton, Jno. Hays, Jno. Heagy, Jno. Heunninger, Abram 
Hendal, Wm. M. Henderson, Thos. Hennessj', Jno. Herman, 
Andrew Holmes, Mary Holmes, Jno. Huston, Armstrong Irvine, 
Jane Irvine, Rob't Irvine, Sarah Irvine, Wm. Irvine, Marg't 
Jackson, Thos. B. Jacobs, Abel Keeney, Dan'l R. Keller, Geo. 
Keller, Elizabeth Kerr, David Kinkaid, Jno. Kinkaid, Thos. 
Kinkaid, Abram Lamberton, Jas. Lamberton, Marg't Lamberton, 
Ursula Eamberton, E. T. Lane, Thos. C. Lane, Wm. Lindsey, 
Gabriel Line, Wm. Line, Geo. Lee, Thos. Lee, Wm. Leonard, 
Isabella Love, Jane Logan, Henry Lynch, Geo. A. Lyon, Jno. 
McClure, Chas. McClure, Alex'r McCord, Rob't McCoy, Nancy 
McCue, Jno. McDonald, C. McManus, Rob't McPherson, Jno. 
Main, Jas. Mateer, Jno. Mateer, Wm. Mateer, Geo. Matthews, 
Geo. Metzger, Lewis Mickey, Geo. Murray, Sen'r, Wm. B. 
Murray, Jno. Noble, Jas. Noble, Rich'd Parker, Jno. Paxton, 
Benj'm Peffer, C. B. Penrose, Elizabeth Ramsey, Esther Ramsey, 
Rebecca Ramsey, Seawright Ramsey, Rob't D. Porter, Jno. 
Proctor, Mary Province, Paul Randolph, Wm. Randolph, Mary 
Robin.son, Catherine Ross, Jemima Sanderson, Michael Sanno, 
Gilbert Searight, Ann Searight. Geo. W. Sheafer, Marg't Simi- 
son, Jno. Smith, P. B. Smith, Rob't Snodgrass, Benjamin Stiles, 
Ed. J. Stiles, Jno. Stuart, Jas. Thomson, Thos. Thomson, Nicho- 

*A coach-maker, on N. Hanover Street. 
tA cabinet-maker, on W. Main Street, 



Appendix. 71 

las Ulerich, Fred'k Watts, Peter Wiebley, Jno. Weakley, Jno. 
H. Weaver, E. White, Jno. Wonderlich, J. Woodburn, Sam'l 
Woodburn, Sam'l Woods, Rob't Young, Jacob Zug. 

The first subscription paper is most numerously signed; the 
second has thirty-six names that are not on the first, and the 
third has but three names that are not on the first or second. 
In the third subscription or that for the bell, Mr. Andrew Blair 
who had previously been one of the very largest contributors to 
the new church — wishing to stimulate the liberality of others 
and secure the more speedily the amount requisite — wrote before 
his name, "on condition that ten names be procured who will 
pay ten dollars, I will pay ten ;" and afterward Wm. Irvine and 
Rob't Irvine gave, each ten on the same terms. The ten 
names were gotten, including that of Mr. Hamilton, who wrote 
near his name, "to bs piid as soon as a subscription is raised for 
furnishing the church" — he was very willing to do what was 
proposed but not willing to "leave the other undone." 

Before the erection of the first building the congregation 
worshipped in the County Hall, also in the chapel of the college, 
and in the Lutheran church. As previously stated the first ser- 
vice was held in the County Hall, Jan. 12, 1833. On that most 
important and interesting occasion, which gave formal organiza- 
tion to the infant church, commencing its life in stormy times, 
and as a matter of great comfort and encouragement to those en- 
gaged in it, the officiating minister preached from the strength- 
ful and animating assurance, "My refuge is in God," Ps. 62 : 7. 
On the 5th of June following the congregation met in the college 
chapel to elect their first pastor, when the Rev. James William- 
son appropriately preached from Gal. 5 : 1, "Stand fast therefore 
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." The Rev. 
Daniel McKinley was unanimously elected. Presbytery then 
met in the County Hall, on the 7th of August following, at 11 
o'clock, when the call was accepted and arrangements were made 
to instal the pastor-elect, in the afternoon of the same day in the 
college chapel, which were duly carried out as here stated: By- 
invitation the Rev. Jno. M. Krebs, of the Presbytery of New 



72 Presbytrian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

York being present, preached the sermon from Is. 55 : 10. The 
Rev. Henry R. Wilson, Moderator, proposed the constitutional 
questions to the pastor and people; the Rev. Dr. Wm. Neill, of 
Philadelphia, by invitation, gave the charge to the pastor, and 
the Rev. James R. Sharon, of Paxton and Derry. gave the charge 
to the people. Though the first baptisms were administered in 
the County Hall, the first communion was observed in the Lutheran 
church, Feb. 3, 1833, by invitation of the vestry of said church. 
The congregation commenced worshiping in the Lecture Room 
of the new building, Nov. 17, 1833, and in regard to this first 
service we have the following record in the handwriting of Mr. 
Andrew Blair: "Through the goodness of God the congregation 
assembled the first time for worship in the Lecture Room in the 
basement story of the new church, on Sabbath l7th, November, 
1833, where they intend worshiping statedly until the church is 
finished. Rev. Mr. McKinley preached the same day from Ps. 
122 : 6, 7, 8 and 9, We may be permitted to state further, that 
on Sabbath, July 27, 1834, the first commumion was held in the 
upper part of the church; and among the first persons then re- 
ceived on examination were Ann H. Blair and her cousin, Mary 
McClure, the former the only daughter of elder Andrew Blair, 
and the latter, youngest daughter of elder Jno. McClure. 

We would here say to the honor of the Board of Trustees, 
that when the pews were first given out, the choice was not de- 
termined by lot or by auction, but what was wiser and more com- 
mendable, the oldest person making application had the first 
choice, and so on by seniority until they were all taken. 

In October, 1850, the trustees, by contract with Mr. Jacob 
Beetem, had the pulpit lowered, and this was the first alteration. 
In the summer of 1864, Messrs L. and M. J. Myers were em- 
ployed to enlarge the Sabbath School Room, b}^ adding to 
it a portion of the Lecture Room, having two small 
rooms at the west side, between which a wide passage led into 
the enlarged room, which passage faced the pulpit or reading 
desk on the east side, and led from a wide hall at the extreme 
west end, running north and south, which was entered by a door 



Appendix. 73 

on Pomfret street, as well as by a stairway from the church 
lobby above, and from which hall a door led into each of the 
two small rooms. And this important and comfortable change 
was made chiefly through the instrumentality of an efficient lady 
member, who also generously gave of her time and means to ren- 
der inviting the first home of her pastor. 

The old church had been built in exciting times by sterling 
men and women of faith, who planned and toiled not for them- 
selves alone, but for future generations. For this reason, not 
less than for its architectural symetry and beauty, the building 
commanded respect and admiration. It had become dear to 
many hearts, and there are those still living, on whose loving and 
grateful affection it had a strong hold. But it was claimed to 
have accomplished its work, and that a larger and more modern 
one was needed. Its place is now occupied by another. The 
last service was held in the church on Sabbath, June 19th, 1870, 
when in the absence of the pastor. Rev. Wm. H. Logan, preached, 
and in this closing service it was the privilege of the writer to 
participate. 

The bell of the old church was sold to the Presbyterians of 
Newburg, in our county, and is in the belfry of their church. 
The pulpit and pews are in the Church of God in Plainfield, or 
Smoky Town, a few miles west of Carlisle. 

The pretty ornamented columns, that supported the light on 
each side of the pulpit are in the writer's little parlor. 



J. 

DEED TO STEEL'S MEETING-HOUSE EOT, No. 177. 
The parchment bears the endorsement: 

"Recorded in the office for Recording Deeds for the city and 
county of Philadelphia, patentBook A. A. Vol. II, page 236, etc., 
the 17th day of April, 1761. Witness my Hand and Seal of 
my Office af'd. C. Brockden, Rec'or." 



74 Presbyterian Churches, Cari^isle, Pa. 

"Patent to Thomas Wilson and others for a Lot of Ground 
in the Town of Carlisle and County of Cumberland, in trust for 
the Presbyterian congregation there. No. 177." Signed by 
James Hamilton, Lieutenant Governor. The following extracts 
may be of some interest: "To all unto whom these presents 
shall come Greeting, whereas on the humble Petition and Request 
of the Minister and Congregation of Presbyterians in the Town 
of Carlisle and County of Cumberland and its neighborhood at 
present under the ministry of the Reverend Mr. John Steel that 
we would grant unto them a certain Lot of Ground in our said 
Town of Carlisle marked in the General Plan thereof number one 
hundred and seventy-seven, for erecting and continuing thereon 
a House of Religious Worship for the use of the said Congrega- 
tion," * * * "our Surveyor General * * * * made 
return of the said Lot of Ground * * in order for confirma- 
tion * * * * to Thomas Wilson, John Davies, John Byers, 
WiUiam Speer, John Montgomery, and Ezekiel Smith, who are 
members of and appointed by the Congregation their Trustees 
for taking up the said Lot of Ground for the use aforesaid" * 

* * * ''To have and to hold * * * * to and for the 
use Intent and purpose of erecting and continuing thereon a 
Church or House of Religious Worship for the use of the said 
congregation of Presbyterians and their Decendants and Suc- 
cessors forever in such manner as the Minister, Elders and Ma- 
jority of such Congregation for the time being, and from time to 
time order direct and appoint /o 3(? /;<?/«'(?« o/" 7/5 * * * as of 
our Manor of Lowther in the County of Cumberland aforesaid." 

* * |^y/w£'55 James Hamilton, Esq., Lieutenant Governor * 

* * * sixth day of April in the year of our Lord, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and sixty one." 



Appendix. 75 

K. 

AGREEMENT FOR SALE OF DUFFIELD EOT, No. 122. 

[The following paper filed among the papers of J. A. M., 
but not given in his address, is here included as of possible inter- 
est:] 

Endorsement: "Articles of Agreement Between the Trus- 
tees of Carlisle & Jno. Smith, &c. 

June 6th, 1792, the first pay't of twenty Pounds and 4/ 
for two months Int'st thereon agreeable to within article paid 
me Will'm Eyon as P. Rec't gave Sd Smith & McCoy this Day. 

Rec'd the above sum of ^20-4- from Wm. Eyon the 16th 
June, 1792. John Creigh." 

"In consideration of a valuable consideration to me in hand 
paid and secured to be paid by William Bunchanan of the Bor- 
ough of Carlisle Carp'r I do release to him all my Right Title 
and Interest of in and to the Lot of Ground mentioned in the 
within article of agreement and do hereby allow that the same 
shall be conveyed by the Trustees therein mentioned to him in 
my room as fully aud freely as the same was to be conveyed to 
me he paying the rem'dr of the consideration money yet due 
said Trustees by me for the half of said lot by me held being ten 
pounds lawful money of Pennsylv'a at or upon the 30th day of 
March next. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my 
hand and seal this 26th day of Sept., 1792. 

John McCoy [Seal]" 
Signed, sealed and delivered 
in the presence of 
Sam'l Lyon 
Will'm Lyon." 



"Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon between 
Stephen Duncan, John Creigh and Will'm Lyon in Behalf of The 
Trustees of the Presbyterian Congregation of the Borough of 
Carlisle of the one part and John Smith, Black Smith, and John 



76 Presbyterian Churches, Caklisle, Pa. 

McCoy, Blew-Dyer, both of the said Borough of Cumberland 
County as follows, viz. 

The said Stephen, John and William do sell unto the said 
Smith and McCoy that Lot of Ground in said Borough which 
was held by the Congregation of the late Rev'd Doct'r Geo. Duf- 
field in said Booough known in the General Plan of the said 
Town by the No. 122 on the South side of Pomfret street adjoin 
ing the L,ot whereon the Meeting House of the said Rev'd Doct'r 
Duflfield stood and was Burnt down, and the Lot whereon the 
aforesaid John Smith now Lives for and in Consideration of the 
sum of Forty Pounds the one-half to be paid in hand to the said 
Stephen Duncan, John Creigh and Will'm Lyon and the other 
twenty Pounds to be paid in one year from the present Date for 
which twenty Pounds the said John Smith and John McCoy is to 
give Bond and sufficient Security if demanded upon the Trus- 
tees of the said Congregation giving them a Conveyance of the 
said Lot defending the same from the said Congregation forever 
subject to the Payment of such Rents or Reservations as are now 
due or shall become due for the same to the Chief Lord or Lords 
of the fee thereof. And the said John Smith and John McCoy 
do agree with the said Stephen Duncan, John Creigh and Will'm 
Lyon — in Trust — for the Trustees aforesaid to pay the said Forty 
Pounds Lawful money of Pennsylvania in manner aforesaid, for 
the true performance whereof the parties bind themselves to each 
other in the penalty of eighty Pounds Like Lawful money afore- 
said. In Witness whereof the said Parties have hereunto Inter- 
changeably set their Hands and Seals the 30th Day of March, 
Anno Domini 1792. 

Signed, sealed and delivered Stephen Duncan (seal) 

in presence of John Creigh (seal) 

Ellis Minshall Will'm Lyon (seal) 

James Clendennan. John Smith (seal) 

John McCoy (seal)" 



Appendix. 77 

L. 

CONSIDERATION OF SALE OF THE GLEBE, ETC. 

[The following among the documents relating to the church, 
but not quoted by J. A. M., is given as of some possible interest. 
It seems to contain notes of minutes of a meeting, without date, 
and a synopsis of the act of incorporation, apparently for use at 
the meeting which seems to have been provided for on page 3. 
The resolution on p. 4 is dated Sept. 1, 1796. It is on a small 
sheet of paper, 5 by 8 to the page] . 
Page 1. 

"Sec. 1. Cons't 12 Gentlemen by name and their successors 
a Corporation and Body Politic in law and in fact to have con- 
tinuance forever by the name of the 'Trustees of the P. C. in the 
B. of C. in the C. C 

Sec. 2. Vests in said Corporation and their successors all 
lands, tenements, rents etc., which had been previously conveyed 
in any way to or for the use of the Presbyterian Church in Car- 
lisle or to the religious congr. worshipping therein under Doct'r 
Robert Davidson — and ennables the said Corporation and their 
successors to take and hold any future Grant or Gift of Lands, 
Goods, etc. 

Sec. 3. Directs that the rents, profits and interest of the 
real and personal estate shall be appropriated by the Trustees 
to the maintenance and support of the Pastor, for repairing and 
maintaining the House of Public Worship, Parsonage House and 
other buildings which now are or hereafter shall belong to said 
corporation. 

Sec. 4. Enacts that when and as often as it may become 
necessary to rebuild, enlarge or otherwise alter or repair the 
House of Public Worship or any other building of said corpora- 
tion — or to erect any new buildings — or to make any new pur- 
chases for the use of the said congregation, it may be law- 
ful for the Trustees to sell the whole or part of said real or per- 
sonal estate as a majority of the regular members of said congre- 
gation duly called to meet together shall by their vote direct, the 
Proceeds to be applied agreeably to the vote of said majority." 
[Continued on second page.] 



78 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisi^e, Pa. 

"Sec. 5. Enacts that no part of the Real Estate shall be 
conveyed or in anj- way encumbered by the Trustees without the 
consent of a majority of the members of said congregation who 
shall have met together on due notice having been previously and 
publicly given for that purpose." 

[On bottom of this page in reversed position.] 

"Resolved that be a cominitte to wait on 

Mr. Duffield for the purpose of communicating to him the pro- 
ceedings of this meeting and of receiving from him any com- 
munication which he may wish to have laid before the officers of 
the church on or before the congregational meeting to be held 
on Saturday the 12th inst. 

McCord, Blair & Holmes." 

[On third page.] 

"The members of this congregation are requested to meet in 
this place on for the purpose of considering the 

following propositions recommended on the part of the church as 
calculated to promote the best interests of the congregation. 

l.st. That the Board of Trustees be authorized to effect a 
sale of the Glebe farm with as little delay and for such price as 
they or a majority of them shall deem expedient under the present 
embarrassed state of the congregation. 

2nd. That the Trustees be authorized to apply so much of 
the money of such sale be necessary to discharge the Balance of 
Principal, Interests and Costs due upon the Judgement against 
this corporation in favor of Dr. Nesbit's [?] heirs [?] 

3rd. That the Balance of the purchase money shall be 
vested by said Trustees in such Public Stock or loaned on such 
real security as a majority of .said Trustees shall deem most for 
the benefit of the corporation." 

[Covering whole page, and no date given.] 

[On fourth page — lengthwise of the paper.] 

"1796, Sept. 1. Resolved that some one suitable person if 
such can be found be employed to collect the stipends of the 
present year, and that he be allowed 5 per cent on all that may 
be received by him and paid into the Treasury. Trustees present, 
Doctor Davidson, John Montgomery, James Weakley, Dr. Gus- 
tine, Charles McClure, Sam'l Laird, Geo. Logne, Gen'l Irvine, 
William Lyon and Thomas Craighead." 



Appendix. 79 

F.F. 

{addendutn to Appendix F.) 
BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL DATA. 

1. Jno. MClure, see page 23. 

2. Mrs. Jane McClure, born Aug. 12th, 1785, daughter of 
William and Sarah (Holmes) Blair, wife of elder Jno. McClure, 
died Aug. 13th, 1864. Was the mother of three sons, who died 
before reaching maturity, and three daughters who married, and 
had families. 

3. Mr. Andrew Blair, see page 19. 

4. Mrs. Elizabeth Blair, daughter of Joseph and Ann (Gor- 
don) Haj's, and wife of elder Andrew Blair, was born April 10th, 
1792; married March 31st, 1812; was the mother of nine children, 
six of whom reached adult life, four married and had families. 
She died Jan. 2nd, 1843. One of her sisters, Jane Hays married 
the Rev. Dr. Daniel Zacharias of the German Reformed church; 
another, Mary Hays married Dr. Charles, R. Cooper, of this 
place, and afterwards of Clarksville, Tenn; one of the brothers, 
Dr. Adam Hays, married Charlotte McClure, of Willow Grove 
Farm, and his residence stood on the hill where is now the 2nd 
Presbyterian church; another brother was John Hays, one of the 
original members of this church. 

5. Mr. Lyon, see page 28. ; 

6. Mrs. Anna G. Lyon, daughter of Thonjas-Lyttleton 
Savage, of Northampton Co., Va., was born there Feb. 1797, i 
and there married Mr. Lyon June 14th, 1815. She was the 
mother of a large family. Died Aug. 25th, 1876. 

7. Miss M. C. Jackson, daughter of James and Margaret 
Jackson, died in Carlisle, April 24th; 1867 aged 50 years. 

8. Mrs. Margaret Jackson, mother of the preceding, and 
widow of James Jackson, was a very estimable woman, and 
taught school for a long time at the southeast corner of Hanover 
.street and Chapel alley, where she resided. She died March 24th, 
1853. Her daughter Violetta was the first wife of Deacon P. B. 
Smith, whose son James Ramsey Smith, was a member of the 



80 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

Carlisle Bar, and whose daughter Jane married the Rev. John F. 
Hey, a local preacher of the M. E. Church, who was for many 
years a successful educator here and elsewhere. It was in his 
school- room, at the north end of "Harper's Row," second story, 
that the sabbath school of this church first convened. 

9. Miss Rebecca Ramsey, sister of Mrs. Margaret Jackson, 
lived with her sister, and assisted in teaching school. (The rap of 
the thimble on the head was an often-administered and well-re- 
membered punishment). Their mother, "Mrs. Ramsey," was 
the person mentioned, as having saved Major Andre, when a 
prisoner here, in 1776, from mob violence, and who declined a 
present from him, as she was too staunch a Whig to accept a 
gratuity from a British ofiicer. 

10. There were several families by name of Holmes, and 
it is not possible reliably, to ascertain to which Mary Holmes be- 
longed. 

11. Sarah Irvnne, daughter of William Harris, brother of 
John Harris, the Indian trader and pioneer, who married Cathe- 
rine Douglas of the family of Sir Robert Douglas of Scotland, 
was born March 20th, 1741 in Derry. She was the widow of 
deacon Robert Irvine, and died March 1st, 1837. 

12. Mrs. Ann Craighead, maiden name Shields, was the third 
wife and widow of James G. Craighead. She was born in Frank- 
lin County, 1778; married May 28th, 1807; and died Dec. 7th, 
1843. She was the mother of four sons and three daughters. 

13. Miss Margaret Craighead, daughter of the persons just 
named, was born July 4th, 1814; married Edward Connelly in 
1835; and died in the west in 1847, aged 33 years. 

14. Mrs. Elizabeth Kerr, daughter of William PhilHps, 
and sister of George Phillips, editor of the Carlisle Herald, was 
born Feb. 14th, 1773, and died Aug. 5th, 1842. She married 
Andrew Kerr, nailor, 1791, and their home was at southeast 
corner of Louther and Bedford streets. She was the mother of 
six sons and six daughters. 

15. George Murray, son of William and Susanna (Sly) 
Murray, born near Fort Pitt, March 17th, 1762. came to Carlisle 



Appendix. 81 

about 1774; married Mary Denny, daughter of William and 
Agnes (Parker) Denny June 27th, 1804, and died May 6th, 1855 
in Carlisle. He was left an orphan in care of James Pollock, 
Thomas Alexander, and George Stevenson, and was by them in- 
dentured to Simon Boyd, at the northeast corner of Main and 
West streets. He became a model citizen; married the younger 
sister of the wife of Lieut. Boyd; became his partner, and suc- 
ceeded him in a large business. His life was characterized by 
strict probity and a high sense of honor. He and his wife be- 
longed to the First Church, and both became members of the 
new church. Mrs. Murray was born in Carlisle, was a mother of 
the Christian type, and for many years a consistent member of 
the church. She died here April 10th, 1845. All of their chil- 
dren became members of the First Church, under Dr. Dufl&eld, 
and in the formation of the Second Church the family was divided. 

16. Robert Irvine. See page 26. 

17. Mrs. Eleanor Irvine, wife of Robert Irvine, to whom 
she was married by Dr. Davidson, 1811, was the daughter of 
Ross Mitchell. She was born Jan. 26th, 1781, and died Aug. 
29th, 1854. Her son, Dr. James Ross Irvine was a deacon in 
this church, and another son is a ruling elder in the First Church. 

18. James Wilson, was not of a Carlisle family, but lived 
here several years, and was only a pewholder in the church. 
He married Eliza daughter of Michael Ege and sister of Capt. 
Geo. Ege. She died May 9th, 1837. Their daughter Ann, 
married Alexander Wilson, and died Feb. 22nd, 1852; and Mary 
Jane married John Stockton. A son James Wilson removed to 
New York city. 

19. James Thomson. See page 36. 

20. Wm. B. Murray. See page 37. 

21. John Agnew. See page 35. 

22. Mrs. Margaret Agnew, daughter of Matthew Browuj 
wife of John Agnew, died April 11th, 1852, aged 60 years. 

23. Mrs. Lydia Biddle was born Jan. 16th, 1776. and died 
March 28, 1858. She was the widow of Wm. M. Biddle, Esq., a 



82 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

broker of Philadelphia. Her father was the Rev. Dr. Elihu 
Spencer who was related to David and John Brainerd, of Indian 
Missionary fame, and who was honored with the warm friend- 
ship of Jonathan Edwards, the elder. He had been a distin- 
guished minister in our denomination; was the successor of Presi- 
dent Jonathan Dickinson, at Elizabethtown, N. J., and of Dr. 
John Rodgers at St. George's, Del.; and finally had charge of 
the Presbyterian church in Trenton, N. J., where he died in 
1784. He was a man of great ability and learning, and an im- 
pressive and popular preacher. He was a decided patriot, so 
much so, that his active services in behalf of the cause of the 
Whigs greatly incensed the Tories, and on one occasion they 
burned many of his books and most valuable papers, which hap- 
pened to fall in their way. The daughter inherited the strong 
points of character of the father. She was the sister of the wife 
of the Hon. Jonathan Dickinson Seargent of Philadelphia. She 
was a true friend of the Presbyterian church, and, though only 
a pewholder when she signed the petition to Presbytery, she was 
one of the first received on certificate, — from the First Presby- 
terian church in Philadelphia. She was prominent in every 
work connected with the church. Her daughters, Mrs. Baird, 
Mrs. Blaney and Mrs. Penrose were also warmly attached to this 
church. Mrs. Baird's eldest son, Samuel Baird, joined the church 
in 1840. Her youngest daughter, Mary, became a member in 
1854. She married Major Henry J. Biddle, whom she survived. 
Among her other benefactions she is the founder of the Biddle 
University for Freedmen, at Charlotte, N. Ca. She erected the 
church at the corner of North and East streets, Carlisle, as a 
memorial of her .son, Jonathan Williams Biddle, and is now 
having erected on East High street, a Hospital and Home for 
aged women. Mrs. Blaney's daughter, the wife of A. B. Sharpe, 
Esq., became a member of this church in 1863. The aunt, Mrs. 
Valeria F. Penrose, was the first person received into this church 
by examination, after the congregation had commenced worship- 
ping in the Lecture Room of the new building; and her son Prof. 



Appendix. 83 

R. A. F. Penrose, of the University of Pennsylvania, joined this 
church in February, 1843. 

24. Mrs. Jane W. Paxton, born Jan. 31st, 1802, was the 
wife of Dr. John Paxton, and daughter of Hon. James Wilson, 
of Fairfield, Adams Co., Pa., a Member of Congress for three 
terms. 

25. Thomas C. Lane, a pewholder, son of Joseph and Mary 
(Newton) Lane was born in Westmoreland county, Va. He was 
the uncle of Harriet Lane, niece of President Buchanan. 

26. Major John Harper, born Nov. 29th, 1793, was a prom- 
inent citizen of the county; was Presidential Elector 1828, Pro- 
thonotary 1829, Trustee of the Agricultural and Manufacturing 
Bank, Director of the Carlisle Saving Fund Society, Justice of 
the Peace and Surveyor. He built Harper's (Irvine's) Row, 
east of the Episcopal church. He was a Ruling Elder in the 
United Presbyterian Church, and a pewholder in this church, 
which he joined on examination, Feb., 1843. His wife joined 
this church by certificate from the Associate Church at Big 
vSpring, in 1834. 

27. Mrs. Lamberton— daughter of Abraham and Margaret 
Wood — widow of James Lamberton, who had been a Ruling 
Elder in the First Church, was the mother of Abraham Lamber- 
ton, one of the founders of the church. She died Sept. 26, 1840. 

28. Robert Clark. See page 24. 

29. Mrs. Margaret Clark — daughter of George Smiley, 
whose wife was the daughter of Gen. Frederick Watts, and the 
sister of David Watts, Esq. — was the widow of elder Robert 
Clark. She died Nov. 30th, 1865. One of her sons became a 
Presbyterian minister, and another a Ruling Elder in the church. 

30. Miss Mary P. Clark, youngest daughter of Robert 
Clark, by his first wife, married Robert Elliott; died in Chicago, 
111., 1883. 

31. Robert Giffin. See page 27. 

32. I'eter B. Smith. See page 25. 

33. John Paxton. See page 36. 

34. John Williamson. See page 35. 



84 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

35. James Hamilton. See page 32. 

36. John Proctor. See page 27. 

37. Mary Proctor, daughter of John Officer, was the wife 
of the preceeding. 

38. Alexander C. Gregg. See page 32. 

39. John Smith, born at Middlesex, in this county, 1757, 
died in Carlisle, Oct. 6th, 1839; served as a Justice of the Peace; 
taught school in "Brackenridge's Alley," near Church Alley, 
about midway between the public square and Pitt street. Few 
men were more respected in Carlisle than "Squire Smith," or 
"Captain Smith," or "Gentleman John Smith," by all which 
titles he was known; the latter, because of his generally very neat 
appearance. He married Elizabeth Byers Davis. 

40. Mr. Holmes. See page 35. 
4-1. Mr. Young. See page 37. 

42. Mrs. Margaret Young, maiden name Elliott, was the 
second wife of Robert Young; born 1779; married 1820; died in 
Silver Spring Township, Jan. 6th, 1847. 

43. Mrs. Ann Susanna Blaine — daughter of Paul and 
Susanna Metzger, and only sister of the late George Metzger — 
was the widow of Robert Blaine, who died Jan. 8th, 1826. She 
died Aug. 19th, 1853, in her 82nd year. She is said to have 
been, when young very pretty and attractive. Her daughter 
Rebecca became the wife of Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Chamberlain, a 
graduate of Dickinson College, a minister of our church. Presi- 
dent of Center College, Ky., and afterwards of Oakland Col- 
lege, Miss., where he was killed by a student Sep. 5, 1850. 
Dr. Chamberlain's second wife was a cousin of his first wife, a 
daughter of Jacob Metzger of Hanover, Pa., and in her widow- 
hood lived with her uncle George Metzger in Carlisle. Another 
daughter, Ann Susanna, married Gen. Samuel Alexander, a lead- 
ing member of our Bar; Eleanor married Dr. Wheaton, and after 
his death Mr. Hays; Mary married Rev. Adam Gilchrist, a grad- 
uate of Dickinson College, and a Presbyterian minister. 

44. Mrs. Jane Eogue, widow of George Logue, Esq., was 
born Dec. 20th, 1768, and died here Dec. 6th, 1839. Their at- 



Appendix. 85 

tractive home was at the northwest side of the Borough, and 
"Logue's Garden" and "Logue's Orchard" were well known. 

45. Mr. Fernald. See page 37. 

46. Mrs. Sara Fernald, wife of preceeding, a daughter of 
Robert Wright, glover, was born in Carlisle, Oct. 23th, 1799, 
and died at Jefferson, Indiana April 4th, 1869. 

47. Mrs. Rachel Cooper, only daughter of Thomas and 
Margaret (Gibson) Craighead, was born July 10th, 1783; mar- 
ried John A. Cooper of Carlisle, Feb, 14th, 1805; died in Clarks- 
ville. Tenn., Feb. 2nd, 1845. Her only child, Dr. Charles R. 
Cooper, who moved to Clarksville, Tenn., married Mary Hays of 
Carlisle. 

48. Charles B. Penrose. See page 31. 

49 and 50. Elizabeth and Sarah Boden, were maiden sisters. 
They they resided on the north side of Louther street, between 
Hanover and Bedford streets. Elizabeth died in Duncannon, 
Pa., Feb. 7th, 1852, in her 66th year, and Sarah died at Oquaka, 
111., April 13th, 1864, in her 75th year. Their father, Hugh 
Boden, was County Treasurer in 1807, Sheriff in 1810, and 
Cashier of the Agricultural and Manufacturing Bank, at the 
southwest corner of the public spuare and Hanover street. Their 
brother Andrew was County Treasurer in 1815, Member of the 
Legislature in 1814 and 1815, and Member of Congress from 
1817 to 1821. He was a member and trustee of the Second 
Church. His daughters Sidney and Rebecca joined this church 
in Feb. 1834, they both resided subsequently at Oquaka, Illinois. 

51. Miss Sarah McCommon, born in 1776, died here July 
3rd, 1844. She lived with her sister Mrs. Nancy Hogue, and 
had been a member of the First Church. 

52. Isabella Love, daughter of John and Ann Hunter, was 
born in Bucks County. Her father was a school teacher. 

53. Crawford Foster. See page 33. 

54. Mary Smith, daughter of James and Jane (Greenwood) 
Scoby, was the second wife of Peter B. Smith, Esq. 

55. Gilbert Searight. See page 36. 



86 Presbyterian Churches, Cari^isle, Pa. 

56. vSarah Searight was the wife of the preceding. 

57. John Stuart. See page 31. 

58. Elizabeth Bullock, maiden name Mattison, was the 
wife of Ezekiel Bullock. 

59. Mary Province, daughter of Mr. Ramsey, whose wife 
was a daughter of Ralph Sterrett, of Sterrett's Gap, was the 
sister of William Ramsey, member of our Bar, Clerk of our 
Court, Prothonotary of the County, and Member of Congress. 
Wm. S. Ramsej', also a representative in Congress, from this 
district, was her nephew. Her brother, Sterrett Ramsey, was a 
Purser in the U.S. Navy. 

60. Mary Laird, daughter of James Young, and the relict 
of Samuel Laird, Esq., was born Oct. 31st, 1741 and died 
Feb. 4th, 1833. Judge Laird had been one of the commissioners, 
appointed by Mr. Steel's congregation, in 1769, to secure the 
erection of the present stone church. He was a Ruling Elder in 
the old church, and is one of the corporators named in the church 
charter of 1786. He and his wife are buried at the old grave- 
yard, at Meeting House Springs. 

61. Diana Lemon, maiden name Patterson, was the mother 
of Mary, wife of Major John Harper. 

62. Abraham Lamberton. See page 34. 

63. Martha Duncan, was the daughter of Robert Callender, 
of the Revolutionary era, and sister of Anne Callender, who 
married Gen. William Irvine, the patriot officer and honored 
civilian of that time She was the widow of the Hon. Thomas 
Duncan of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, who died in Lan- 
caster in 1827, and was buried in Carlisle — to whom she was 
married April 28th, 1785. She was born June, 1768, and died 
Feb. 29th, 1852. Her son, Callender, married Miss Huling, and 
lived at Duncan's Island. Stephen married Miss Stiles, sister of 
Edward and Benjamin, and for them the three story house was 
built, .still standing at the southwestern corner of High and Bed- 
ford streets. John married Miss Sterrett, sister of Mrs. Brisbane — 
afterwards Mrs. Henry Duffield — who was also the sister of the 
wife of Rev. Geo. A. Lyon of Erie, Pa. A daughter, Ann, 
married Edward J. Stiles, whose beautiful country seat, "Cler- 



Appendix. ^' 

mont," was where now is the County Home. He had also a 
residence on "St. James' Square," or the "court end" of Car- 
lisle which extended from the public square to Bedford street. 
Another daughter, Mary, married John D. Mahon, Esq.. the 
distinguished lawyer. Catherine married Thomas Chambers, 
Esq., of Chambersburg. Pa., brother of Hon. Geo. Chambers, 
Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Frances, was the 
wife of Col. Arthur P. Hayne of S. Ca., who was a brother of 
Hon R. Y. Hayne, whose avowal of the doctrine of State Rights 
called forth the memorable reply of Daniel Webster. John Dun- 
can, the brother of Thomas was killed in a duel at the north- 
eastern suburbs of Carlisle by Gen. James Eamberton, June 22nd, 
1793 aged thirty-one years, and he was the challenger. His 
^,idow-who was a daughter of Col. Samuel Postlethwaite- 
became the second wife of Col. Ephraim Blaine, the great-grand- 
father of the Hon. James G. Blaine. Col. Blaine's .son James, 
the grandfather of the Hon. James G. Blaine, acted as Duncan's 
second, and Duncan's wife's brother, Joseph R. Postlethwaite, 
accompanied him to the ground. When the Second Presbyterian 
Church was organized, and the building erected. Gen. I^amber- 
ton became a pewholder, and attended service regularly. After- 
wards he applied for membership, but not being willing to con- 
fess that he had done wrong and was sorry for having killed 
Duncan, the session declined to receive him. This fact is simply 
given as an evidence of their extreme care in receiving persons 
into full communion. 

64. John Hays. See page 34. 

65. Ellen Hays was the daughter of Robert Blaine, and 
widow of Dr. Wheaton. 

66. Isaac Weakley, son of James Weakley, and brother of 
James and Nathaniel Weakley, a pewholder when the church 
was organized, became a member in full communion, April, 
1837. The Weakley family was an old family, and generally 
Presbyterian in their church relations. Some are interred in the 
old graveyard at Meeting House Springs. The Hon. J. M. 
Weakley was a nephew of Isaac, a son of James, and a grandson 
of Isaac Weakley. 



88 Presbyterian Churches, Carlisle, Pa. 

67. John Huston. See page 37. 

68. Eliza Huston, daughter of Samuel and Hester (lyUsk) 
Weakley was the wife of John Huston. 

69. Joseph Connelly continued in the other church. 

70. Sarah Ann Doyle, daughter of John and Ann Young 
Fister, was born in Baltimore, Md., March 8th, 1810, and mar- 
ried to Elisha Doyle, Esq., Dec. 25th, 1827; they removed to 
Baltimore in 1849. 

71. George Metzger. See page 36. 

72. William Irvine. See page 35. 

73. Priscilla Boyd, eldest daughter of William and x\gnes 
(Parker) Denny, and sister of Major Ebenezer Denny, was born 
in Carlisle May 28th, 1763, and died Feb. 22nd, 1849. She was 
the widow of Simon Boyd, an officer in the Second Battalion of 
Associators of Cumberland County. They had no children. 

74. Jane Irvine was the maiden sister of Col. Wm. Irvine, 
with whom she lived. 

75. Catherine Ross, daughter of James and Sarah (Harris) 
Irvine, was the widow of James Ross, LL. D., an excellent 
classical scholar, at one time connected with Dickinson College, 
and author of a I^atin Grammar, and several other primary books 
in Latin. He died in Philadelphia July 6th, 1827, but is buried 
in the old graveyard here. Miss Irvine was his second wife, 
they had no children. 

76. James Bredin, came from Ireland with James Given, 
and engaged in the mercantile business here. Although a mem- 
ber of the Episcopal Church, he was a constant pewholder in 
the Presbyterian Church. He died here July 2nd, 1838, and 
was buried in the old graveyard. The family subsequently 
moved to Butler, Pa. The Hon. John Bredin, President Judge 
of that Judicial District, was a brother of James Bredin, and the 
children of the latter who resided there are: Edward, a lawyer; 
Mary, who married the Rev. Mr. White, an Episcopal clergy- 
man, and two widowed daughters, Mrs. Catherine Graham, and 
Mrs. E. M. Parkerfield. 

77. William Edmond, was an honest and industrious son 
of toil, and at one time sexton of the church. 



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